The Other Side of You
by hidden.coffeebean
Summary: Aella Stone is a cop for the LAPD. After being reassigned as the third wheel to an already dysfunctional partnership she learns that friendship, trust, and even love come from the most unexpected circumstances.
1. chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters,**

 **photos of Rachel Brosnahan are used as photos of OC.**

 **OC name: Aella (pronounced AY-luh)**

 _I'm still writing the story, and I'm putting my feelers out so if you like it, don't be shy!_

Early chapters may be a bit short, but they get longer as the story progresses.

_

Aella POV

The sun…shining through a sliver of window that my curtains failed to hide, sits its rays on my face making sure I wake up exactly 48 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Wishing I was the kind of person that could just roll over and go back to sleep, I reluctantly sit up rubbing my face.

I look over with one eye barely open to make sure I remembered to pick up my uniform from the cleaners. It's there. Crisp, fresh, and almost glowing as if the uniform itself is excited about going to work today. Sitting next to it on my desk are gun and badge.

Check, check, and check.

While showering I mentally replay yesterday's chaos. Most days are smooth, but the occasional shit show is inevitable. Not that I hated my job as a beat cop in a large city…I knew what I was getting myself into. I loved the chaos, the challenge, the pressure, the experience. I do this because part of me wants the community to know that there **is** someone that gives a fuck, but the other part of me wonders if this will be my last shift.

After assignments were given out, I was getting details about my assignment from captain when two beat cops came walking over, one of them calling to captain like he's objecting his assignment…loud, fast, and Jesus Christ he's annoying. She pauses me and proceeds to immediately shut his argument down. While she tears him a new one I cringe and start to walk off but something catches my eye and I look back. Standing next to the hot-headed deputy is his partner….an orc. THE orc. The one the whole station is constantly talking about. The only orc cop in the country. I had heard many stories about these two cops, but I had never seen them.…and the orc cop was staring at me. But not in a vengeful, or menacing way. His eyes were full of curiosity veiled under bashful. When I made eye contact with him, he dropped his eyes immediately to the ground, like he was avoiding getting caught, and turns his focus onto his partner getting grilled. Captain then turns to me, then double-takes and realizes its me standing there. She has a thought and looks back at him saying, while pointing at me: "here, meet your new **OTHER** partner. Since you two can't figure out the whole PARTNERSHIP THING, I'll add to it. This here is Stone. If anyone can pull you two out of your bullshit, it's her." She turns and takes back the folder she handed me, telling me: "Never mind this, new assignment. Partner up with these guys, they're on a pretty tough beat and also need to be reminded of the _purpose_ of a cooperative partnership. She gives them one last glare before turning on her heel walking off, leaving all three of us a nice blend of shocked and confused.

What the hell just happened?! I got pulled off an easy day to babysit these jokers? They both looked at me in unison. The orc had an apology forming in his eyes, but the loud mouth had as much disinterest in this new partnership as I.


	2. chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters**

 _I'm still writing the story, and I'm putting my feelers out so if you like it, don't be shy!_

Accepting the fact that I was now going to be part of the entire station's gossip and bullshit, I thought I may as well suck it up and make the best of it. I look at my watch and ask "don't we need to get going?", but I already knew the answer. They turned and we all three walked out, as I prepare myself for the shit I'm about to go through. We get our radios and keys. I see their names as we don everything to us. The orc has the name Jakoby on his chest, making me curious of his first name. Did orcs have human names or….?

Big mouth is Ward. I can already tell this is going to take work.

As we came up to a huge dirty SUV outside, Jakoby turned to me with his right hand out, "Hey, Stone…" he says while looking at my chest just long enough to read my name, before darting his eyes back to mine. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Jakoby."

I return the hand shake, saying "Likewise. This is going to be a first for me. Y'all must have really fucked something up for Captain to assign a _third_ cop to your squad." He slows the handshake and his face drops a bit. His eyes immediately move to see Ward's reaction. Again, he's unimpressed as he slides into the passenger seat and closes the door. I hope I figure out what his problem is while I'm out here babysitting them. Jakoby slowly lets my hand go and turns to get in the driver's seat.

Guess I'll grab the backseat.

After 7 minutes of silence, I ask the both of them "so….are we not going to talk about why I've been attached to y'all?"

Jakoby, who I'm sitting behind, turns his head to look at Ward and hesitantly (but almost excited that someone asked?) says in his deep husky voice: "well uh…I'm not sure what people may have told you but Ward and I enjoy being part-" with Ward interrupting him saying, "oh cut the shit. You and I do our jobs very differently and we are just two assholes who shouldn't be paired together. That's it."

Ward goes back to looking out his window in silence, and through the rear-view mirror I see Jakoby's eyes drop..and look around to hide his face.

Now I see what everyone was talking about. Realizing that I've never heard a bad thing about Jakoby, other than ridiculous rumors and how clumsy he was, I start to put together the picture of the partnership these guys have. Ward is a seasoned cop with an ego, and most likely was assigned FTO of Jakoby. Ward has always been known to be a rebel with a big mouth but wasn't bad at his job. His harsh personality just didn't pair well with someone like Jakoby, who seems like a genuinely nice guy who could manage to accidentally make any situation awkward.

This should be fun.

After more silence and a stop at a gas station, I start to recognize the neighborhood they patrol.

Known for being a bad part of town, Mason Heights is not an assignment anyone wants, which is most likely the reason these guys always got stuck with it. They knew the thugs on the corners on a first name basis. Occasionally Ward would roll down his window and tell someone on the corner to go home.

The rest of shift is full of both of them giving me their versions of certain neighborhoods and/or key people. They talk as if I'll be their third partner for good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters**

 _I'm still writing the story, and I'm putting my feelers out so if you like it, don't be shy!_

After several weeks of being attached to these two knuckleheads I've paid attention to the streets, the people. I'm usually greeted with more attitude than what the men got, or maybe they're just used to it. I don't think the people in this neighborhood take well to a new female cop who's face is ripe with resting bitch face, and a mouth that could piss off the Pope. If I didn't have thick skin I'd have asked to be put back on my previous assignment. I liked the excitement from this neighborhood, and being stuck with these guys keeps my day entertaining to say the least.

Ward isn't as much an asshole as I first assumed. He is an ass, but he does have good intentions…he just has terrible delivery. Sometimes hilarious delivery. Jakoby gets most of the heat, but it doesn't phase him anymore. Apparently Ward knows who I am, and doesn't give me very much attitude. Jakoby mentioned that he's heard about me but has never seen me.

That night after shift I'm in the shower replaying today's events. Before leaving the station, other cops asked if I was going to be at Lulu's tonight for their grand re-opening after a recent remodel. I decided against it and came home. I'd rather spend my evening in a silent, non crowded place, and drink my expensive alcohol in a clean glass. Having Ollie, my German Sheppard, at my side is just a bonus. He lays in the threshold of my bathroom since the door is open. His head resting on his paws, ears pricked forward alert on me showering. I'm humming mindlessly and washing my hair while I remember a few hours back at the station:

A ** _fter booking a suspect I'm walking back to the break room to grab a coffee before heading back out. I slow down and pause right outside the door. I can hear Ward and Jakoby in there, talking to each other. Their volume lets me know that they're the only ones in there._**

 ** _Jakoby: "but I mean…what would YOU say?"_**

 ** _Ward: "I wouldn't say anything, I'm telling you its a bad idea…"_**

 ** _J: " it-…It can't be a bad idea if I feel this way…I'm no match for those icy eyes and twisted sense of humor-…"_**

 ** _W: *interrupting Jakoby* " Nick, it isn't a good idea..she's not someone you'd be good with….._**

 ** _As soon as I realize they're talking about me, I lean against the wall and look down the hall making sure no one else heard that._**

 ** _W: " Nick…she will tear your ass up. I don't even understand it, don't you like women to be dainty and harmless?…instead of one who is exceptionally good at putting people into the ground?"_**

 ** _J: *starting to walk towards the door/me* "Daryl, I'm an orc, she is still dainty to me."_**

 ** _As Jakoby walked through the doorway he immediately saw me standing there against the wall. He froze and stared at me, his yellow eyes wide in surprise. "Stone! Uh….."_**

 ** _Ward walked past him out the door, noticing me. "Stone, he's got something to ask you…" he says as he walks off. I look at Jakoby, with fake innocence in my eyes pretending I didn't hear anything. He asks for my number, using the fake excuse of needing it since we're partners now._**

His stunned silence and slightly reddened face is what stuck in my head. I dried my hair with my towel and put on an extra large T-shirt. As I poured a glass of bourbon and coke, mostly bourbon, I mentally juggled the realization that Jakoby had a crush on me. Just as I sit on the couch my phone dings.

I look at the name, hoping it wasn't work. The word 'Jakoby' lit up in the center of my screen.


	4. Chapter 4

****Chapter 4****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

"Hello ****Nick****." I say, putting sarcastic emphasis on his first name.

"hey-.…uh…how'd you know my first name?" he asks genuinely., his deep gentle voice sounding a bit softer now than I normally hear while we're at work. Jeez, this guy really is clueless.

".….I'm literally your partner. Did you think I wasn't going to find out?" I ask him. He chuckles off a 'duh' moment, and he's silent for a few seconds.

I get antsy because I was looking forward to watching my show, and he's getting in the way. "Did you need something?"

He remembers, "OH!..I seem to have misplaced my wallet, was checking to see if you've seen it."

"Nick, no. If I had seen it, I would have given it back to you, not kept it for the night. Where do you remember having it last? Did you leave it in your locker maybe?" I'm asking him, hopefully sparking his memory so he leaves me be.

"yea I..I guess I must have" he says, his tone dripping with defeat.

I suddenly feel a bit bad. He really didn't mean any harm, he's just naturally awkward. I let go of a sigh and in a bit softer tone I ask him: "Nick, did you take the squad home tonight or did you let Ward take it again?"

His tone perked up just a bit: "I uh..I have it tonight"

Nodding as if he can see me, I tell him he should probably go look in the truck.

He agrees, but before he hangs up he asks: "hey…since you know my first name, I think it's fair that I know yours. Ward refuses to tell me …..and...um..….." he trails off, suddenly aware that he's accidentally admitted that he's been asking about me.

His bashfulness is cute, and I'm not annoyed anymore. Having someone act like this over me is refreshing, and a bit foreign. My last relationship was anything but gentle and cute, and didn't end well so I've never really been in the mood to get into another relationship. Ollie is perfect company anyway.

"My first name is Aella". I guess he could hear my tone soften, because he perked up even more when he heard my name.

He repeated it slowly, as if branding it into his brain, "Aella…." He suddenly snaps out of it and says "okay um..yea, I'm gonna go look in the truck. Good idea, thanks Aella."

I tell him goodnight and toss my phone on the couch next to me after hanging up. I feel a small smile tug my lips. Ollie sits up at my feet, looking straight at me. I swear he knows me better than anyone.

"No Ollie, it's not gonna happen." I tell him, ending the conversation as if he was going to start one.

I turn on the tv and snuggle myself into the couch.

I wake up an hour later, not realizing that I fell asleep.

I look at my phone again, checking for any notifications from Nick. Nothing.

I walk to my bed…phone, blanket, and Ollie in tow. As I get comfortable under the blankets I couldn't understand why I had a hint of disappointment from not hearing back from Nick. Not that I cared about his lost wallet….but something else was tugging at me. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.


	5. Chapter 5

****Chapter 5****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

Nick POV

-The following day-

Shift just ended, I'm walking through the hallway towards the female locker room, Aella's car keys were in the break room and I didn't want her to forget them. I stood outside their change room against the wall waiting for someone to come out so I could hand them her keys. While I smelled the floral and soapy scents wafting from the change room, I was more hoping Aella would walk out.

My mind replayed a moment that happened earlier during shift. Replaying it in my head felt like slow motion. It played over and over in my head for the rest of the day:

 ** _ _ **Aella was cuffing a guy who tried to rob a corner store while she happened to be in there getting a drink. He was significantly bigger than she was, but we learned not to worry about that as the girl can most definitely handle herself. Halfway through getting cuffed, he turned around quickly and grabbed her by the throat. As soon as the un-cuffed hand grabbed her neck, her knee was in his chest and her elbow in his eye. He stumbled and fell into the counter making everything crash onto the floor. He was now on the floor, yelling and covering his eye with his one free hand. Ward and I sprinted back inside as soon as we heard the crash. By the time we got to them, Aella was rolling him over with her boot and shoved her knee into his back while she cuffed his free hand to the other. I was already cursing myself for not having been near. I was just outside questioning a witness when I heard the crash inside. What stuck with me, and stopped me dead in my tracks was her face.**__**

 ** _ _ **Her eyes moved from the guy's head up to us. Her brow tightened, her eyes no longer bright blue…but gray with yellow streaks that reminded me of lightning. Of course nobody would normally notice this, but thanks to my orkish eyesight, I can see great detail when I focus on it. The anger in her eyes, the beading of sweat on her temples, her jaw tensed letting me know she was gritting her teeth. It was so primal and sexy and why am I feeling this towards my partner?**__**

Aella POV

I was the last one to walk out of the locker room. Tucking my wallet into my back pocket, I turn and see Nick standing against the wall next to the door, thumbs in his belt loops, my car keys in his hand. * _ _Of course.*__

I pull one ear bud from my ear, and he's staring at the floor lost in thought. "what's up?"

 _ _*He didn't hear me. Orcs are supposed to have good hearing…what on earth is he thinking about?*__

"Nick?…" I said a little louder. His ears perk towards me and he jumped a little, looking at me apologetically. "Oh hey, sorry…you uh left your keys in the break room. Brought em to ya" he says as he holds them out, his smile fading as he notices the bruises on my neck. I gently take the keys from his hand. "Thank you" I told him, as I looked at his lips, suddenly wondering what it would feel like-* _ _gah! What am I doing? He's an orc!*__

I can feel my cheeks start to burn so I turn and start walking. I get to my car after what feels like ages of walking out of the station. I close the door and just sit in silence for a few minutes, my eyes closed. I did this every day after shift. It's my own way of letting go of the day, and the stress that comes with it. Driving home I was trying to figure out why I'm having these strange thoughts about Nick.

* _ _First, he's my partner. I've always made a promise to myself to never cross that line of being romantically involved with my partner. Second, he's an orc. I don't have a problem with them at all, but can orcs and humans even be romantically involved? Like, are we biologically compatible?*__

These thoughts were rolling around my mind and before I realized it, I was home. I zoned out completely, but still managed to get home safely. Ollie greeted me at the door, tail wagging. I gave him some love and he then trotted to my room as I took my shoes off at the door. He was laying on the bed, head and ears perked up, tail still wagging when I got to my room. I removed my clothes after laying my badge and gun on my bed side table, tossing my shirt and pants wherever they'd go. I was too exhausted to care right now. Showering and humming, memories of earlier came flooding back in. .

* _ _The way his shirt sits on his chest and hugs in all the right spots. Why didn't I notice that before? The rest of the station may see him as a little dorky but I've seen this guy in action, and he can handle himself. But when he isn't pointing a gun at someone, he's a really nice guy. Hm….a nice guy. Wonder what that's like. Ward is kinda like an asshole big brother, but you know he's got your back. However he is not someone I could ever be involved with other than work. Nick is not someone you'd expect as a cop. But then again, knowing him…he is exactly someone you'd expect to be a cop. He gives a damn. Can't say that about every cop.*__

I come back from my thoughts and the shower is running cold. I scold myself for even thinking about this shit again. I am in complete denial of even having these thoughts at all.

Ollie lays next to me as I get into bed, resting his head on my legs. I nod off to sleep while petting him.

Nick POV

Sitting on the edge of the bed in just my boxers, rubbing my hands across my face, mostly lost in thought. The same image coming back into my head. **__**her face looks up at us, gray eyes flashing with anger.**__**

* _ _her eyes changed colors. MY eyes don't even change colors….*__

 ** _ _ **she stands up, breathing a little heavy. A small satisfied smile carves her face. I ask if she's okay, she nods and looks back at him. I pick up a spicy but delicate scent all of a sudden. Her adrenaline. Ward picks the guy up and hauls him to the truck. She looked at her neck in a mirror and I had to force myself not to touch her. I had the sudden urge to go to the truck and dismember the asshole who bruised her neck.**__** I get into the shower, a low growl in the pit of my stomach. Remembering I didn't get the chance to eat today, I eat a late dinner before heading to bed. I grab my phone and start texting Aella to see how she was doing but decided against it. But seeing her name made my chest warm and my boxers suddenly tight. I set my phone on the bedside table. I turn off the lights and slide my hand under my sweats and boxers and focus on remembering her breaths with beads of sweat on her face. I start slowly stroking my cock, feeling it grow and harden. Thoughts and images flood my head- * _ _seeing her head tilted back, mouth open in ecstasy, my hand softly around her neck.__

 _ _I picture myself massaging the hot mount between her legs. Sliding my hand under her panties feeling her soft folds and wet slit.__ *

I stroke faster, and my breathing picks up.

* _ _I slide a finger inside her wetness and her body bucks and writhes against my hand as she says my name..*__ I came faster than I expected to, so I wasn't prepared for the mess.

"Time for another shower…"


	6. Chapter 6

****Chapter 6****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

Nick POV

* _ _i look down at her, my hand full of her hair. Her icy blue eyes looking up at me, full of lust. She may be a lot smaller than me, but she had no problem fitting 5 of my 9 inches in her mouth. Her hands working the rest of my shaft. Watching my wet cock slide in and out of her swollen lips…..__ *

My eyes blink open and the neighbor is mowing their lawn next door, waking me and my fully erect cock. The thick comforter was no match for a throbbing orc…

The sun seems to be especially brighter when it rises on your day off. I look at my phone for the time and see that it's dead. I forgot to plug it in. Sitting up I rub my face in my hands wishing I could go back to dreaming __*what? NO! That Aella, I'm NOT supposed to be dreaming of her like that! Great..now that's going to be all I think about when I see her. Just don't even look at her. One look at those eyes…..*__

"Coffee…" I say out loud to no one. Nodding, I get out of bed heading towards the kitchen.

Aella POV

I wake to Ollie sniffing my hair. I grumble and roll over, covering my head with blankets. Ollie jumps over me, and buries his face in the mound of covers I was hiding under, sniffing and licking when he found my face. "OLLIEEEE! Not the faaaace" I sat up, defeated. "alright I'm awake. What do you want to do today?" I know he can't answer me but sometimes I pretend most of our outings and errands are his idea. He trots out of the room suddenly. I get up and drag myself to the bathroom. When I come out he is sitting right in front of the door, leash in his mouth.

"uugghhhhh, I didn't plan on running today ollie. It's my day off, can't we relax?" his ears drop.

"nope. Not gonna work this time…" he lays down, leash still in his mouth. I step over him and go to the kitchen to start breakfast.

I'm halfway done stuffing my mouth with bacon when someone knocks at my door.

Ollie trots to the door, barking. I go open it and Nick is standing on my porch. I'm suddenly aware that all I'm wearing is a thin silk robe over a small tank top and shorts. I pull the robe closed asking him what he's doing at my place on our day off.

"I just wanted to stop by and see how you're doing, with what happened yesterday…" he says.

"Nick...I appreciate your concern, I really do…but I've been a cop for several years now. I've taken a beating way worse than this. I'm fine, really." Ollie pushes his way past me to sniff Nick, I reach for his collar prepared to pull him back should he start to growl. But he didn't. He relaxed a bit and Nick bent down to pet him and rub his head. Ollie looks up at me enjoying his new friend. I'm trying to remember the last time Ollie didn't want to bite the face off an orc.

Based on what I've been through in life, I'm more inclined to trust a dog's instincts of a person than anything else. If he's not trying to dismember Nick, then he's good in my book.

 _ _*Well….if Ollie trusts him, I trust him. May as well invite him in for breakfast so I don't have to throw away these extra pancakes.*__

Nick POV

I didn't have a problem with dogs, they more had a problem with orcs. I've never tried to pet one, in the off chance that I get attacked. But this dog seemed to love my attention. I knelt down and rubbed his head, knowing this may keep me in his good graces. I also took advantage of kneeling down to hide my semi-erect cock because of what she was wearing. She answered the door in her pajamas, which were small and thin, and clung to her curves. Last night's dream was still fresh in my head, even if she was annoyed with me checking up on her. Her mood changed as she watched her dog relax with me. She looked at me for a few moments, as if trying to make a decision. She sighed and said "have you eaten breakfast?"

"no..not yet" clearing my throat.

"well come on in then. I made too many pancakes and I don't want to waste them." she says as she turns and walks back inside, leaving the door open for me to follow.

Surprised at her invitation, I walk inside taking in all the smells. The food, the dog, her scent. Everywhere, her scent…soft but spicy, unexpectedly pleasant and intoxicating. Registering that she lives alone, I follow her dog to the kitchen and see her getting a plate. As she piles food onto the plate I cant help but take in how she looks. I'm so used to how she looks in uniform, hair pulled back, put together. Right now her red hair tousled around her shoulders, fell and stopped at the middle of her back…..the image of my hand full of her hair came to mind right as she turned to bring me the plate. I moved my eyes from her to the ground."

"Here you go…" she says, like she didn't even notice. She moves around me and sits at the small breakfast table in the corner. She pats the spot across from her, signaling me to sit there and eat. I complied. I wasn't even hungry, but I was more focused on NOT getting a boner while in HER house. So I sat and ate, focusing on anything else. Her dog sat next to my legs, looking up at me.

She strolls back in the kitchen, "want some coffee, nick?"

"ah..sure. Black, no sugar." I tell her. Her face poked around the open cabinet door in surprise.

"Really?"

I'm not sure why that's confusing. "…yea. I don't really care for adding sugar and cream, I like it black and straight" I explain to her. Then I hear a muffled giggle as she pours coffee into a mug. I polish off the last bit of food, apparently hungrier than I thought. She comes back a few minutes later with two mugs in hand. She sets a mug down in front of my now empty plate and she pauses, looking at me confused. "you ate all that already?" I look down at my plate wondering why she's easily surprised by me.

"Aella, if you don't mind me asking, am I the first orc you've really been around?"

She sat down slowly, a bit of pink filled her cheeks as she formed her answer. "being around one everyday? Yes. I mean, I've arrested my fair share but I guess I've never really gotten to know one."

I looked at her surprised, right as I picked up another scent on top of hers. * _ _She's nervous. What the hell did you do to make her nervous?*__

She quickly kept explaining, as if to redo what she just said. I grab her hand gently to slow her down. "hey, I know you don't have a problem with orcs. You don't have to explain yourself to me"

She pauses and has a small realization before she nods and smiles.

Aella POV

* _ _okay maybe inviting him in wasn't a good idea. With it being his day off too, he isn't in uniform. I can't help but notice how much easier his muscular body is visible through his t shirt and sweats. He HAD to wear sweats. My weakness. As he got up to put his plate in the sink I pretended not to watch him as I cut a piece of pancake with my fork. The weeks of tagging along with them gave me the chance to get to know them better. I unexpectedly find Jakoby attractive. It doesn't help that I know he's genuinely a nice guy, which is completely different for me.__

 _ _The way he moves, his sweats hug in the right places. As he's walking back, his nose is flaring and he's looking at me cautiously.*__

 _"_ Everything okay Aella?"

I snap out of my thoughts and he's looking directly at me, his eyes focused and a bit dilated. I nod, involuntarily glancing down where his sweats bulged out around his crotch. I dart my eyes back to my plate, and pick it up. I stand and walked past Nick to the sink. I hear him quietly sniff and deeply inhale as I walk past him. I sneak a look at him while I put my plate in the sink, his eyes opening and landing on me, pupils dilating even more.

Suddenly he moves straight toward me and I turn around quickly right as he reaches me, pinning me against the sink. His arms slowly raise and rest on the window sill behind me. His face inches from me. I'm not sure whether to be terrified of being surrounded by an orc, or aroused from being surrounded by Nick and his huge arms, his face inches from mine. He looked down at my lips, then up to my eyes. I'm barely breathing.…..

"um…" is all I managed to get out.

He looks at my lips again, "I can smell it."…looking back at my eyes.

My mind going completely blank from fear, I ask "…smell what?"…

His face slowly leans in and goes to my neck, where he gets right up against me, inhaling.

"lust..…." he whispers on the exhale. My cheeks start burning out of embarrassment.

Nick POV

My face inches from her neck, I inhale her scent again, expecting to get another wave of her intoxicating smell. Suddenly it isn't lust. I immediately smell her panic…

Looking at her face, her eyes are on me. She's frozen still but her hands are slightly raised, as if ready to brace them either on my chest or cover her face. That's when I realized where I was. I was so much bigger than her, and here I am standing over her like she's prey. My instincts must have kicked in when I picked up her lust. I had to remember that humans aren't like orc women. You have to be gentle with humans. I step away from her slowly, apologizing.

" I-…I'm sorry." I backed up but she stayed put, her hands slowly dropping. "I don't know what came over me.."

* _ _but I do…*__

"..I shouldn't have done that." I start to go back to the table for my coffee but I feel her small hand grab mine. I look back at her, and her face isn't full of fear anymore.

"Hey, I know you wont' hurt me. I just-…I guess I reacted the way I'm used to reacting." she says as she let my hand go, and walked to the table. She sees my curious face so she continues as I sit back down across from her. "my last relationship….." she paused, thinking, as if choosing what words to say. "it wasn't very good. I tried to leave him so many times but…" she trailed off and took a sip from her mug.

I start feeling the tinge of anger as I put two and two together…. "but?…" I ask, pulling for the rest of the story.

She sets her cup down, not looking at me. "he wouldn't let me leave. He threatened me, my life, if I left him." her eyes up at me now, cheeks slowly starting to flood with red. "we would fight. Like, physically, fight. He'd be lost in his own thoughts convinced I was cheating on him, and so he was very abusive." she sighed, and heat filled my ears and throat imagining someone hurting her. But she's so tough …it's hard to imagine her being the victim based on what I saw being her partner.

"After that, I took so many classes. Self defense, you name it. I became a cop and wasn't going to let anyone else take advantage of me, or hurt me. It's why I've stayed single for so long. Ollie here is the best company" she finishes, smiling and petting her dog.

I shake my head in disbelief. "I apologize, Aella. I had no idea…"

"no, it's fine. I just-"

I interrupted her, "No. It isn't fine. No one should treat you that way, including me."

I stand and thank her for breakfast and coffee. "I should probably be going now"

She nodded and said "okay…"

* _ _is that disappointment in her eyes?__ *

Aella POV

I've never had anyone say that to me. I mean I knew it of course, but to hear someone SAY it….

He turned to walk towards the door. A piece of me didn't want him to leave.

* _ _Oh no*__


	7. Chapter 7

****Chapter 7****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

Other than Nick coming over unexpectedly and finding out what kind of person he really was, my days off were uneventful. Sitting in the briefing room waiting for my assignment, although I already knew what it was, Nick and Daryl waltz in with everyone else and sit in the two chairs to my right.

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's keeping work at work, and home at home. I never talked about my personal life at work. It kept everyone out of my business, and I loved that no one knew every detail of my life.

As captain started with irrelevant announcements, Ward leaned over to me and whispered "When's the wedding? I'm invited right?"

Confused at first, I look at him about to ask him what the hell he's talking about. But as I look over, Nick is looking at Ward in horror, his face beet red. I realize then that he must have told him about coming over to my place. Great. I'm going to be dealing with THIS all day.

Over the next couple of hours on shift, I sit in the backseat completely silent. Luckily its been a slow day so ignoring Ward's stupid questions was easy, and I didn't let his dumb comments piss me off. Ignoring Nick's concerned looks were a little harder to ignore but I managed. What was hardest was hearing Nick walk towards me for something, forgetting until the last second that I was ignoring him, causing him to stop in his tracks and walk elsewhere….

Forcing myself to ignore him made me miss him, and I hated that I felt like that. I was starting to like him, and I didn't even know why. I was not mentally ready to be involved with someone yet.

Lost in my thoughts in the backseat of the squad, I feel the truck come to a stop next to a burrito stand in an okay part of their beat. Nick tells Daryl to go ahead. He nods and gets out, followed by Nick sliding out of the truck and closing the door. I sighed. He's going to come talk to me.. Fan-tastic.

My door opens a few seconds later and, as I called it, Nick is standing there, looking at me with concerned and pleading eyes. I look him over and turn to look out the other window. I wasn't hungry. He looked at the ground for a moment, then looked back at me for a few seconds before he gently, but deeply says, "Look I know you're upset with me, but I'm not sure what I did wrong. If it's that I told Ward about having breakfast at your place, I tried not to make it sound…bad. But I guess I underestimated him, and of course, he took off with it. So, I apologize. I apologize if I embarrassed you, and I understand if you don't want to speak to me again. If it means anything, I'm just not going to mention you to Ward, or to anyone, if it doesn't have to do with work."

He turns to look at Ward, who's standing in line. He isn't in ear shot. He looks at me, and sees me looking at him. He seems a bit surprised. He doesn't know it yet, but his apology is the most sincere thing anyone has ever told me after upsetting me. I didn't even get an apology when I caught my ex with some gash in my bed! And here Nick is, pouring his heart out because I'm acting like a brat.

I take a breath, about to say something when he says "I haven't seen you eat all day, do you want me to grab you something to eat?…I'm worried about you. I truly am sorry and I hope you can-"

I didn't let him finish. I turned and brought my mouth to his, catching him in a kiss mid-sentence.

I felt him relax a bit and his hands went to my arms, holding me up in case I fall from leaning towards him. I break the kiss slowly and look at him, taking my bottom lip in my mouth. He blinks at me, surprised but excited simultaneously. Ward's yelling brings me back to Earth with the most excited "OHHHH!" I've ever heard. You'd think his football team had scored….he comes walking back holding his hand out, Nick quickly gives me a look and shuts the door before Ward can come over and piss me off. He figured it out quick. While Ward slapped Nick on the back with the biggest smile I've seen on him yet, I had my own smile on. The windows were tinted enough that they couldn't see me. I didn't know what made me do that…but it felt new, and so good. And it's going to feel amazing keeping this a secret. Sure Ward will talk around the station but nobody will believe him because he is always talking shit. And the way everyone thought about me as a cop, they definitely weren't going to believe I'd be with someone like Nick. I wasn't worried.

I look out the window and see Nick standing in front of my door, blocking Ward from getting to me. Jesus he's serious. Nick's arms are moving and he's saying something very firmly, but I can't hear it. Bulletproof glass prevented me from hearing clearly. Whatever it is, it worked…Ward had his hands up, innocently. He smiled and walked back to the line. I saw Nick's body rise and fall with a sigh, and he turned around and opened my door. Before he could get a word out, I said "Nick…" He stopped in his tracks and listened to me, as if me saying his name cast a spell on him. "I'm not sure why I did that, but I needed to. But that was the best apology…well, best anything really, that anyone has ever told me. So here's mine. I'm sorry if I've ever made you uncomfortable, including just now with my unexpected…kiss. It's just, I don't like my business being out in the open. I like that the entire station doesn't know my whole life." His eyes soften and he says, "Aella, are you kidding? You could never do anything to make me uncomfortable." Shooting a glance at Ward before looking at me again. "Not like that asshole. You are one of the most amazing people I know, along with being the most beautiful human I've ever laid my eyes on." He says, a little bit of frustration pushing through at the end. My lips pull into a small smile. He looks at me with a defeated smile, his ears twitching. He looks at Ward, then looks back at me. "so you gonna let me buy you lunch or what?"

"Sure, as long as this…" *me pointing back and forth between him and I* "..stays in this truck. If anyone at the station finds out….." he nods quickly saying "of course of course."

I tell him what food I want and he closes the door again, walking to the food window.

A few seconds later Ward opens the passenger door and slides in, mouth already full of food, a sack of foil-wrapped burritos and napkins in his lap. I brace my happiness for any incoming remarks.

He says between bites, "Hey…..I know I'm an asshole…but Jakoby's a good dude. A good cop. And you're a good person too. I wont say anything. He needs someone looking out for him, and from being your partner just this short time, I don't trust anyone else with his life than you." He takes another bite and doesn't say another word. Stunned, I'm silent for a few seconds before saying "that actually means a lot, coming from you. Thank you" He has a mouth full of burrito so all he does is wag his finger "no" where I could see it. He's back to being the ass we all know. I'll also keep that a secret as well, I realize and smile to myself.


	8. Chapter 8

****Chapter 8****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

Later that night I'm at home sitting on the couch, watching tv, and stuffing my face with a bowl of salad. Ollie is sitting right in front of me, his mouth going back and forth between panting and not panting. I finally look at him, mildly annoyed: "Ollie go lay down on the couch, don't sit directly in front of me." He tilts his head a little and closes his mouth, staring at me.

"okay OKAY…yes, I kissed him…." I say, and his head straightens and his tongue goes back to hanging out, panting in excitement, almost like he's smiling. I sigh and tell Ollie about my day. He's honestly the only one I can tell my whole life to knowing 100% that they'll still love me afterwards.

By the time I get to the end of my spiel, I'm laying on the couch with the blanket over my face, covering a smile. Ollie barks, and I pull the blanket off my face to reach out to him. He isn't there…he ran to the door. He's barking again, letting me know that someone was on the other side. I look through the peephole and see Nick standing there in regular clothes (those goddamn sweatpants), looking at his feet nervously.

Wondering if I should go put on shorts..I decide against it not feeling shy with him anymore. I open the door and immediately ask, "do you wear those sweats on purpose?" He looks down at his sweats, confused. "um…."

I stop him before he answers, forgetting he hasn't grasped my sarcasm yet.

"Never mind, come in", I close the door after he walks in and when I turn around, he's suddenly right in front of me, my face align with his chest. He's looking down at me, at my lips. His breathing heavy, and deep. The musky but clean smell of him seduces my nose. He sees my face and recognizes it from the other morning…he slowly takes my hands into his. My hands are tiny in his. He says very gently and low, "I'm not gonna hurt you. Let me protect you."

One of his hands cup my face.

* _ _is THIS what it's supposed to feel like?__ *

I put my hand over his and turn my face, putting my lips into his hand, kissing it. I look at him and his pupils dilated a bit, his ears flicking. He slides his hand under my chin and he tilts my face up as he steps forward and dips his head, catching me in a kiss. He's not used to my size so when he pushes the kiss deeper, it pushes me backwards and suddenly I'm against the door. He looks up, startled. He apologizes and steps back. I smile, biting my lip. "Nah it's okay. You'll get used to me soon." I tell him. I walk past him, his eyes follow me, noticing I'm only in a t-shirt.

I turn a corner into the kitchen and then I hear his heavy steps following me. I'm standing in front of the sink, filling the kettle with water. I hear his steps stop right behind me. If I stay here, knowing he's right behind me, I'll quickly get aroused…so I move to the stove, setting the kettle on my favorite burner and turn it on. He stays put, but watches me. "I hope you like tea" I tell him as I start to walk past him to the living room but he grabbed my arm, stopping me. I look back up at him, "yes?"

His eyes are intense and he pulls me back against him, his thumb grazing my cheek to move hair from my face. He whispers, "I want to explore you" as his eyes look over my hair, eyes, nose, lips, and neck. I answer him back softly, allowing him, mostly because i wasn't sure what exactly he meant with that. Surely he isn't trying to get frisky yet…he's too much of a gentleman.

He takes my hand and leads me to the couch in the living room. We sit on the couch with me on the end. He's sitting right next to me, and looks at me again to make sure he's allowed.

"Nick, what are you doing?" I ask. He leans forward and puts his face very close to my neck, I can barely feel his lips under my ear. His hand goes across me, to the arm of the couch to stabilize himself. His thick arm over me, his face in my neck, the smell of his skin…..I start to feel a little dizzy. I hear him take deep breaths as he moves his face from my neck to my chest…his hand comes to my chin again. He turns my face towards his, running his thumb across my lips. He slowly leans forward and kisses me. He stops for a second, looking at my eyes. I can see that he's looking AT my eyes..the color, the patterns. I can only imagine what details his eyesight allow him to see. He leans in and this time its a deep kiss. I kiss him back, putting my hand on his arm, pulling me towards him. His hand comes from the arm of the couch and slides behind me, picking me up off the couch. He turns and pulls me into his lap, my legs straddling him. He wraps his arm around my back while his other hand pulls my face to his again, kissing me slowly, gently. I let a small moan slip and he stops, looking at me. "did I hurt you?"

"what?…no…" I say.

He asks "what…..what was that noise you made?"

Confused, and a little shy, "uh..a moan? I don't know, it felt good…I haven't been kissed like that in a while…." I explain, sitting up straight.

He looks off, thinking for a second, then asks "so that noise means you like it?"

"well yea..…" I nod, and then realize something….so I have to ask: "Nick have you ever been with a human?"

He answers "well yea, I'm with humans all the time. I'm with you and Ward all day, and then when I go-" ….I interrupt him: "nooo….no. I mean, have you ever had sex with a human?"

His face gets serious realizing he misunderstood my question. And then his eyes move from me, to the floor as he answer: "..n-no…..I haven't. Humans are too fragile, and frankly I've never been attracted to any."

He looks at me, worry filling his eyes. "But I promise I wo-" he starts rambling. I put my finger on his lips, stopping him from talking. I smile and lean down to kiss his lips after moving my finger. I trail kisses from his lips to his cheek, to his ear and whisper "I know you won't hurt me."

He turns to face me. I sit up and he gently takes my face into his hands, looking at me for a few seconds. His yellow eyes studying at every detail of my face. Then, in the most serious but calm tone I've ever heard from him, "If this is real, I need to know now." he blinks, looking from me to my shirt thinking of words. "I've been burned too many times in the past. I'm not gonna let anyone this close to me if they're gonna hurt me. So I'm asking…Is this real? Are you really wanting to do this? Because if we do….. I don't think I could ever let you go."

He studies my face waiting for a response. With my fingers I trace some of the lines in his face, focusing on his features. My fingers gently trace down his forehead, his skin more firm than humans. Now the insult 'pigskin" makes sense and I instantly hate it. My finger trails under his golden yellow eyes, his cheeks, his lips and his filed down tusks. He still has scratches on his face from an altercation between him and a perp a few days ago. I leave a very gentle kiss on his bottom lip. "I'm here. And as long as you show me that you won't hurt me, I'm not going anywhere."


	9. Chapter 9

****Chapter 9****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

After Nick left a few hours later, I slept like the dead. We talked a bit about everything, asking questions and learning about each other. Honestly that's probably my favorite part about it all. He explained to me that he was fairly recently blooded by the Fogtooth Clan by saving Ward from a burning house. It starts to make more sense why this neighborhood doesn't mind them being around. I still have to earn my stripes, pun intended.

While we're on a domestic disturbance call, Ward is questioning a neighbor. I'm walking back to the truck and Nick meets me halfway. "Hey….." looking back at Ward to see where he was.."Hey, Aella, I wanted to tell you that I had a good time las-"

I cut him off: "NOPE!…" I lowered my voice. "..Nick you can't talk about this here. I don't want anyone to hear us."

He nods, "oh…right, okay." He hasn't realized it yet, but there are certain faces he makes, that remind me of when Ollie makes puppy dog eyes at me. When Nick makes a certain face, I can't help but fold. And he's making it now.

So I whisper, "But I had an amazing time with you last night too", sending him a small side smile.

His ears flicked and his eyes got a little brighter as a small smile crawled across his face.

He's looking off at Ward, who's now walking towards us. He quickly whispers, "Can I see you tonight?"

Pretending to read my little notepad, I say "mmmmhm".

As we're leaving this call we quickly head to another. Another squad was requesting backup.

We arrive on scene and there's two cops trying to subdue a huge orc wearing a black hoodie, dark jeans, and a beanie. His beanie says something but I can't read it between the swings of the original cop's baton. We're in front of a gas station, so there's a couple people standing around watching. Ward sternly looks at Nick before he gets out of the truck…as if he's silently reminding him of something. We head over and I go over to a woman orc who's crying and holding her face at what's going on in front of her. She's probably with the orc in the hoodie. I try to keep her calm and out of the way. Nick went over and picked up the orc after cuffing him, and got him into the other squad truck. He starts walking back to the other officers to find out what's going on. Ward heads inside the store to look around and figure out what happened. When Nick comes back over to me, the orc I was "comforting" started screaming and charged at Nick. She was faking her crying, and she was suddenly pissed that a orc cop arrested her husband. She started swinging at him calling him a traitor and a false orc. He tries catching her arms to stop her and avoid having to hit her but was failing miserably. I run after her and try to stop her from swinging but she was swinging too fast and hard, and her strength was more than I was expecting.

Nick wasn't doing a very good job, he couldn't see between trying to guard his face and catch her flailing arms. So I did what I thought would work. I kicked the back of her knees, bringing her down. I got my arm around her neck and forgot all about Nick standing in front of me. She tried getting me off of her, but orcs don't have very good range of motion. Her flailing slows and her arms drop…her whole body goes limp within a few seconds. I look up at Nick and he's looking at me with wide eyes and surprise, catching his breath.

Ward jogs over, "whoa what the hell?"

I gently lay the woman down and cuff her hands behind her back. She won't be out long and I don't want her swinging again when she wakes.

Nick explains that she just started attacking him out of nowhere. But Ward wasn't asking about what she did. "She's an orc Nick, why the hell didn't you take her down? Why did Stone have to take her? You wouldn't be putting that clan shit before your badge would you?"

For the first time, I see Nick get angry. He grits his teeth and gets in Ward's face. "Hey fuck you, she was swinging at my face I couldn't see a fuckin thing! I've already told you about what my badge means to me.."

* _ _okay so this is what captain was talking about...__ *

"hey hey!.." I say, walking up to Ward. "I don't have a problem taking someone down, I would have still done it if she was attacking YOU!"

"Yea, difference is I would have been the one to put her ass down. Not played patty-cake with her" Ward says, glaring at Nick.

I'm not gonna put up with this. I get in between them: "Ward! …the fuck man? He just helped them bring that guy down, you think he can't handle a female? He didn't want to hit her, so I got her. Wasn't gonna just let her attack him. Chill out…"

Ward stalks back to the truck glaring at Nick. I can tell Nick is looking at me but I didn't want to give the impression that I did it because I like him. I did it because he's my partner. "Come on, let's get this bitch in the truck and head back to the station, I'm hungry."

Nick nods and picks up the orc woman. He sits in the back with her while Ward drives back to the station. Ward didn't say a word the whole way.

Later that evening right after shift he came over. He still had that face I saw after I corrected Ward's tantrum. Kinda smug, kinda curious…but silent. Like he's waiting.

I get 2 beers from the fridge and he meets me on the couch. He sits down, and still hasn't said a word since he's come in. I open his beer and hand it to him. I don't let it go when he grabs it, making him look at me. I ask him, "Nick….what's going on. You've never been this quiet before…."

He sighs and looks up at me. "I just…I saw something today that I haven't seen in a very long time. A human was defending me. Even if it was as stupid as today was, or it could have been something huge, it means a lot to me. It shows me that you care…and not a whole lot of people do." he looks away, trailing off and taking a swig of his beer.

"Nick honey. I did it because we're partners. I would have done it even if we weren't. Ward was wrong and that's it." I explain to him.

"Yea I get that. But I've been dealing with this shit since I got here…so seeing someone actually say something about it kinda felt good." he shrugs.

I scoot closer to him and kiss his cheek. "You're a good cop Nick. And a badass orc, so don't let Ward's bullshit get to you."

He picks at the label of his beer "oh what he says doesn't bother me, I just wish he knew how much being a cop meant to me" He looked at me then.

I know I said I was going to keep it a secret, but I hate that he's feeling like this. "Nick, Ward knows. He knows your badge is everything to you."

He looks at me curious, nostrils flaring in and out. "…What?…" he asks.

"When I kissed you the other day?…you were standing in line getting food and he came back to the truck. He said you are a good cop. He knows how much it means to you. I think he just holds you to a higher standard, and I'm sure he gets frustrated at all this orc shit going on right now." I take a drink from my bottle.

He's looking at me, thinking, nodding. "But don't say anything to him, about me saying this." I tell him.

"Alright." he settles.

I get my phone and open my food delivery app, "you hungry?"

He perks up a bit and his ears flicker, "I could eat…"

I nod, "mmkay, what do you want…" I scroll through the cuisines, choosing chinese food for me.

"I'm getting chinese…want that too?" I ask him. He nods but adds: "uh yea thats fine. I'll take a couple vegetable things, I don't eat meat."

I look at him, a bit surprised. "you don't eat meat?…"

He explains that humans eat too much processed foods for his comfort, and he keeps his shape and strength from eating well.

An hour and a half later I'm putting leftovers into my fridge. His phone dings and he's looking at it intently, thinking over something. "Everything okay?" I ask him.

"Yea, um…." he trails off, reading more from his phone. "…Dorghu just asked me to come down to his club. Says there's something I need to see."

I stop what I'm doing to look at him. "Dorghu?….Fogtooth Leader Dorghu?"

"Yes. He's the one who blooded me, I don't want to disrespect him by declining." He tells me, putting his phone down and leaning on the table. I couldn't tell if he was torn between not wanting to leave me, or having to go see Dorghu. Or both.

"Alright, looks like we're headed to the club!" I move to head to my room, but he blocks me.

"No." he shakes his head. "I don't want you mixed up in this. I don't want you hurt. I don't know what he wants..."

I look at him, half lovingly, half annoyed. "Nick, do you forget I'm a cop? What happens if something goes down and you need help?" He looks at me and I can see him mulling it over.

"Aella he doesn't like cops. He doesn't even like that I'M a cop…" he says.

"Okay. Does he know I'm a cop?"

I can see a light bulb appear in his head: "well..no"

"Alright then. To the club we go" I smile and walk past him to my room to change. Nick was already in jeans and a hoodie, so he was fine. I knew I needed to look presentable if I was to avoid standing out.

I'm in my walk-in closet humming a random song while finding an outfit, and I hear Nick go and sit on my bed.

I come out of the closet wearing a pair of torn tight jeans, thigh-high boots, and a comfortable wine-colored shirt. I'll put my leather jacket on when we leave. I'm not one for dresses or heels.

Nick's ears twitch when I move to the bathroom. I'm putting on my makeup and he leans in the doorway. "….so are we going to be..you know…. _ _together__ while we're there?" He's more asking permission than wondering what the plan is.

I think about it and decide sure, we can be together as a couple. Nobody will recognize me anyway.

While I'm on duty I don't wear makeup, and my hair is pulled back in a bun. Tonight, I wont be in uniform, I'll have makeup on and my hair down. After I tell Nick, he moves back to the living room to watch TV while I finish.

When I come out of my room he stands, looking me over. His eyes are bright and a little surprised.

"Wow..Aella, you look amazing. They'll never guess that you're a cop!"

I smile and tell him "Yep, that's the point" I giggle. "You ready to head out?" I ask him.

He comes back to reality and nods, grabbing his keys.

He walks to the door and I follow him, also admiring him in his outfit. He wears fitting clothes, nothing baggy, but nothing too tight. He dresses well but comfortable, and I like it.

We step outside and I see a huge black GMC Sierra sitting in my driveway.

"Um?….Nick, you drive this?" I ask him, as he closes the door behind us.

He looks at the truck, and back at me. "Yea?…wh-….why, what's wrong?"

"nothing…it's just a really sexy truck" I say as I walk to it. He stands there for a moment confused at me calling a vehicle 'sexy'. He sees me standing at the passenger door, and he snaps back to reality. He comes over and the door unlocks automatically, before he pulls it open. He offers his hand to help me climb in, literally. He shuts the door behind me while I buckle in. He gets in and starts the truck and I'm looking at him, admiring the way he looks IN this truck. He sees my side eye with my smirk and he says "what?…you look at me like that a lot"

I laugh, and we're off to Dorghu's club.


	10. Chaoter 10

****Chapter 10****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

We arrive at Dorghu's club, and it's hidden in between the buildings and under the highway in the middle of downtown. Nick parked the truck several blocks away so they don't see what he drives. We make it to the small back alley way where the door is. I suddenly have the thought wondering if this was the ONLY door in and out of this place. He holds my hand and we walk down a few hallways, with a distant sound of music slowly getting louder as we get closer. We head down a set of stairs and at the bottom is just a metal door. Nick knocks and a little peephole at the top of the door opens, two orc eyes look us over. Nick says something in orcish and the peephole door shuts. The door opens and two huge orcs are standing just inside. They aren't looking at us with disgust in their eyes like they do when we have our uniforms on, but they pat us down for weapons. He walks past them, holding my hand pulling me along. He keeps me close to him. We sit at the bar and I order a long island iced tea while casually looking around. Nick was about to ask the bartender for a drink when a different orc, not one from the door, comes over to him and tells him something in his ear. He nods and gets up. He gets in my ear and says "stay put, be safe. Dorghu wants to see me." I nod and he's walking off when the bartender, a female orc wearing very skimpy clothes, sets my drink in front of me, giving me a smile.

I act like I'm looking around at all the bodies moving around the club, but I'm paying attention to where Jakoby went.

I notice a smaller framed guy sitting in a booth, with his jacket hood over his head. The two points on the side let me know he's an elf. The woman dancing on the table in front of him wore nothing but tiny underwear. She looked human but her eyes were yellow, like Nick's.

I hear a grunt and the jingle of chains behind me. I turn around and see a large orc in a jersey looking down at me. "I've never seen you in here before" he says loud and deep. His tusks are long and he's got massive hands.

"Yea, I'm new here…" I lied. He holds out his hand and says "come dance with me."

I was about to object, but I have to fit in. I slide my tiny hand into his and he gently pulls me along to a corner of the dance area. Heavy metal music was louder here than at the bar. He spins me around and slides a huge hand around me, pulling my ass against him as he starts swaying. I lean my head to the side, he leans down and puts his face in my neck, inhaling my scent. While he's distracted I sweep the room again looking for Nick, but see he hasn't come back yet. He leans against the wall and turns me around to face him. He slide his hand down to my ass, picking me up against him. He slides one of my legs around him and I get uncomfortable. I'm all for fitting in but I draw the line at getting dry-humped. I start to push off him, but he firmly pulls me closer, his eyes getting angry.

"Let me go?" I say, trying to pull myself away again.

"You said you would dance with me!" he yells, his voice like a roar.

Refraining from putting his head through the wall giving myself away, I pretend to struggle,

"Let me go!"

As he tightens his grip even more, a female orc with a small fairy sitting on her shoulder comes over and gently lays her hand on his arm. She's wearing a tight black and yellow dress, and a lot of heavy gold jewelry. He looks down at her and he immediately calms.

She calmly says "Dorghu needs her. Go find somewhere else to party tonight."

He instantly sets me down and he walks off grumbling. I look at her and the fairy: "thanks"

"You're welcome. Follow me" She turns, and the fairy turns and sits backwards on her shoulder, watching me. I had never seen one this close before. Other than their face, they were beautiful little creatures. Iridescent scales cover their bodies, and their wings remind me of hummingbird wings.

She leads me up the same stairs Nick followed. We turn a corner and there's a red velvet covered door. Jesus this can't get anymore cliche.

She opens the door and I was wrong. It's a huge bedroom, sort of like a hotel suite. There were too many furniture items covered in red velvet. One side of the room was a big sitting area, with a desk in front of it. Behind the desk in a huge black and gold chair is Dorghu. Sitting on one of the sofas is Nick. His eyes light up a bit when I come in. The orc who brought me doesn't walk into the room.

"Come in! Sit.." Dorghu calls out, his voice loud but not as monstrous as the angry orc who held me hostage. He has his hand out pointing to the empty seat next to Nick. I sit next to him calmly and grin at Dorghu. This is the one who blooded Jakoby. I look him over and notice he's got two guys standing on the each side of the room. Larger orcs, wearing leather cuts over their t-shirts.

"Nick here tells me he's got a human friend that he's very interested in." he says to me. He lights a cigarette while I look at Nick, and back at him, nodding.

"Yea, kinda." I say.

He takes a hit and as he exhales the smoke, says "When he said you were a human, I knew I had to meet you. I mean what human in their right mind would be interested in an orc?" he chuckles.

I can't tell if this is friendly talk or if he's grilling me for something. I shrug and look at Nick.

I smile at him, his yellow eyes moving nervously from Dorghu to me, and back.

I say "I'm not sure either. But I do know, that he's a really good guy." and look back at Dorghu.

He looks at me intently for a few moments, thinking. He says, "Yea. Yea he is….do you know why he's important to me, Aella?"

I nod, "probably has a lot to do with you being the one to blood him. I don't know details yet though."

He looks at Nick, fiddling with his cigarette. He looks back over at me and says "Do you know his cop partner, Ward?"

"Yea, Nick's mentioned him a few times" I say, ignoring Nick's eyes looking at me nervously. Now I'm curious at how much Nick has told him. Or worse, if he knows everything in 'his own way'. Because if so, he'll figure out I'm a cop too. Good thing I decided to look different tonight.

"So, do I have to worry about you treating him like humans treat other orcs? Either using him for his money and strength, or treating him like a deadbeat thug.."

Nick's eyes go wide at Dorghu's question expecting me to get upset.

I shake my head. "Nah. I knew something was special about him as soon as I met him. And then when I found out he was a cop, I was all in. Nick being an orc doesn't make a difference to me. I hate that orcs get treated differently just for what they are."

He lights another cigarette, looking at me intently again. I notice his nostrils flaring in and out, sniffing for any cues of me being nervous or lying. Luckily for me, I'm an excellent liar.

He looks over at Nick after taking a long pull from his cig. "She important to you?" he asks him.

Nick nods, "Yes. Very important." I feel warmth in my chest, and I look at him.

Nick looks at me with excitement in his eyes.

"It's settled then!" Dorghu says loudly, booming his voice so it travels. "Aella, you are welcome here, as well as among any of the Fogtooth. If you ever need anything, just find us. We're everywhere." He smiles. I look back at Nick smiling.

"Draka!" Dorghu yells, and the orc in the gold comes back in.

"Take Aella here back down to the bar. She's not to be bothered, get her anything she needs." She nods and shows me out. As she closes the door behind me I hear Dorghu say "Now let's get to why I called you out here"

 _ _Shit, I missed it.__

I notice again the fairy sitting on her shoulder, looking back at me intently. I reach my hand out and when he reaches out to touch me-a small spark flashes between our fingers, startling me and burning my finger a bit. The orc lady didn't even flinch, she just calmly said: "I wouldn't touch him if I were you…."

 _ _well…too late…__

I go back to the bar and I see the girl in gold, Draka, whisper something to the bartender. I look around for any incoming orcs wanting to "dance".

I hear a soft "here you go honey" come from behind me. I turn and the bartender, who is still smiling, has set a freshly made long island iced tea in front of me.

"oh man I'm gonna like it here" I say out loud to myself.

As time passes, I've made friends with a few female orcs, and an elf….I think. I asked them each about the little fairy, and what do I need to do to get one. They each said something along the lines of "it's not a good idea to have one as a pet. They're vile little shits."

 _ _Oh well.__

I was several glasses and a couple shots deep, feeling a little drunk and warm when I feel a familiar hand gently come around me from behind. I look up and Nick's face is over my shoulder, looking down at me adoringly. "You about ready to go?…." But i could hear that it was more of a suggestion than a question.

I nod and hold my hand out to the bartender, who holds my hand for a second and waves me goodbye. Nick walks behind me, holding my hips, guiding me out of the club. As soon as we go through the metal door, he picks me up bride and groom style, and carries me all the way back to the truck. Probably a good idea, I'd have just slowed him down.

Back at home, he carried me in the house the same way, and didn't put me down until he walked in the room and gently laid me on my bed. I look up at him, with a warm drunk smile, "you are the sweetest person I've ever met Nicholas Jakoby."

His cheeks turn red a bit and he nodded. "Well you're home safe and sound, I'm gonna head home as well. I've got a lot to-"

I interrupt him "Noooo. Nick, don't go. Stay with me. I'm drunk and alone and I need you to keep me safe" knowing that he couldn't say no to that, although I'm also a cop.

He sighs and nods, although his eyes don't look disappointed. "Alright. I'll stay if it'll make you comfortable."

My smile widens and I reach my hand out to him. He lays next to me after removing his shoes and pants. I'm laying on my side so he lays behind me, his body against mine. I feel his face go into my neck, breathing me in. I feel warmth pool between my legs with his face in my neck and large warm body against mine. I push my ass out a little, although at his height, my ass is against his belly. Still, I push my ass back against him. I feel his head look down between our bodies. His hand comes to my side and pulls me tighter against him. His face is back into my neck and I feel a low growl come from his chest. His arm comes up the front of me and gently grabs my neck. His hips are pushing against my thighs. He stops and suddenly gets up from the bed saying, "no. No….I can't. not while you're drunk. It doesn't feel right. I'd feel as if I'm taking advantage of you."

As much as my body was aching to pout and tease until he gave in and fucked me…..I decided not to.

I didn't want to manipulate him into doing something he isn't comfortable with.

I nodded, "okay, okay. I'm sorry. Don't leave."

He slides back into the bed after taking his shirt off. He lays on his back, to avoid the same situation from happening again. Not because of me….but because orcs have hard time stopping once they start, and he doesn't want to take advantage of me. Orcs are very sexual beings, which is probably one of the things about him that I'm attracted to. I turn over and lay against him, my head on his chest. My fingers traced his blue and white markings until I fell asleep a few minutes later.


	11. Chapter 11

****Chapter 11****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

NIck POV

I wake up and feel Aella still on my chest. Hair wild, makeup smeared, and she's still the most beautiful human I've ever seen. Hey body is warmer than usual and her breaths are deep, and steady. I gently slide out from under her without disturbing her sleep. I head to the kitchen and Ollie follows me to get breakfast and coffee started.

* _ _After the night Aella had, she's going to need to eat.*__

About 30 mins later I walk to the room with a plate of eggs, bacon, and a waffle. Aella was stretching and stirring.

"How are you feeling?" I ask her. She looks up at me, with tight blinking eyes. She shrugs and lays back down.

"I made you some eggs. It would be good for you if you ate.." Her eyes shot open and her faced went pale. I suddenly smell panic on her. She slides off the bed and runs into the bathroom coughing, she slams the door behind her. I hear her heaving and I take the plate back to the kitchen and get her a glass of water instead. When I knock on the door she doesn't answer. It's silent. I can smell that she's still in there."

"Aella I brought you a glass of water, are you okay?"

She doesn't answer me. I hear her breathing change, and then I hear sobs. She isn't near the toilet anymore.

I knock harder, "Aella are you okay? Do you need help?"

She finally manages to say through sobs: "Nick I don't want you to see me like this, just go."

"Aella I'm not leav-" and I'm interrupted by a different smell. Something that gives me a bad feeling in my chest. "Aella I need to come in.. I need to see that you're okay"

"Nick I'm fine, just hungover…" she says, weak.

"No, something else is going on. I can smell it."

I turn the knob and open the door just a little and look in at her. She's balled on the floor, sweating, against the wall away from the toilet. I rush in and get to my knees in front of her, looking her over for injuries or clues. The smell strong coming from her. She's crying, trembling, and sweating.

"Aella have you ever gone through this before the morning after drinking?" Noticing her lips aren't pink, but a dark purple..almost blue. Her eyes glaze over and her breaths are weak. I'm watching her get worse right before my eyes.

I pick her up and take her to the truck laying her across the passenger and middle. She's not speaking but tears are still flowing from her eyes. I quickly go back and grab her purse and things before locking the door and hauling ass to the hospital.

I park right outside the sliding doors with red stripping all over it. As I'm pulling Aella from the truck, a human in blue urgently comes up to me: "what's wrong with her?" he asks. He leads me inside as I tell him everything that happened from last night to now.

He beckons a few other humans over to help, and they carry her to a small room that seems to be lined with green curtains. Tubes and wires all strung about around the head of the bed.

One of the nurses gets my attention and gently has her hands up, telling me I need to give them the space to help her. I nod backing out of the room, watching them check her eyes, her temperature.

She gently says "we have a lobby right out here, where you're welcome to wait. We'll come get you when we have any news on her, okay?" She points me to a room with couches and chairs.

I don't want to sit. I pace, and notice everything around the room. Vending machines, tvs, tables with old magazines. People sitting-some asleep, some looking over at me with concern.

I pull my phone out and call Ward. Maybe he'd know what to do. I've never had to deal with a human who was suddenly so sick.

"Jakoby, what's up? Why you calling me so early?"  
"Hey its Aella. Something's going on with her, I think she's sick. She was shaking and vomiting and her skin was hot and clammy, I do-" I start spilling but he cuts me off.

"Nick, slow down. You called me because our partner is sick…?" he sounds mildly annoyed.

"Not regular sick like I normally see humans…she's worse, but I don't know what's wrong, and I don't know how to fix it so I brought her to the hospital. There's all these tubes and wires-"

He cuts me off again: "Alright alright alright, which hospital? I'll meet you there. Stay put"

I tell him where I'm at and end the call.

I'm still pacing and looking through the glass doors, past the nurse's station to Aella's room, but they have the green curtains pulled shut so I can't see what's going on inside. Human nurses steady walking in and out of the curtains. Then I see a few of them from her room come out and they're all speaking to each other-surprised looks on their faces. One of them gets on the phone at the nurse's station, and the others go back into the curtain.

About 20 minutes later Ward walks into the waiting area, walking straight for me: "what's up, what's going with her?"

"They haven't told me anything yet, but they're not acting like it's good news" I pointed out to the human nurses walking out of her curtains again.

"Wait here, I know that nurse…" He says. He goes out and he's talking to one of the human nurses that was writing in a chart. Her face is very serious and Ward's face changes from intent, to surprise, and then focus as she talks. I want to go over and listen, but I'm not in my cop uniform. I'm in street clothes, and a random orc in an emergency room asking questions about a human…..I already know I wouldn't be treated as nicely.

He comes back, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Daryl, what the hell's going on? Is she okay?"

He goes to the coffee machine and pushes his selection as he thinks about how to explain.

"They tested her blood to see if they can find out what's going, and they said she tested positive for something that she isn't supposed to test positive for." He grabs his small white foam cup of coffee, trying to process the news, just as I was.

"wha-…..but what did she test positive for?"

He sips from his coffee, hesitating to say it.

"Ward…" I say, trying to hold my patience…

He looks at me for a few seconds, and says "They said she has very high levels of the same chemical that's found in fairy's blood." He takes another swig of his coffee.


	12. Chapter 12

****Chapter 12****

We both sat down in silence, thinking over everything while I try to figure out how she got fairy blood in her system. I feel my body getting hot with anger. The only time she wasn't with me was when we were at Dorghu's club, but I don't remember seeing any fairies there.

I stand, dialing a number.

"Where you gonna go?" Ward says…

I debated telling him about being at Dorghu's club last night. He doesn't care much for Dorghu, but he knows he's the one who blooded me. I also didn't want to keep anything from him.

Before I send the text message to Dorghu, I sit back down, sighing.

"Last night Dorghu sent me a text message wanting me to come see him at his spot. Said he needed me to see something. Aella tagged along in case something went sideways, she'd be there as backup." His body straightened up but didn't say anything yet.

"Dorghu told his people to take care of her, that she isn't to be bothered. They escorted her to the bar after that while Dorghu had me sit with him in his suite. Dorghu's people would never do anything to hurt her after he gave that order, you know that, so I'm completely lost as to when this could have happened. She was completely fine yesterday before going to the club."

Ward stands up, and I can smell that he's fuming. He paces back and forth a few times before looking at me intently. "We need to go see Dorghu."

I stand, objecting. "No, Ward. You don't like each other very much and I don't wa-" he cut me off before I could finish.

"Nick…..our partner, YOUR GIRL, is laying over there in that bed because something happened to her while she was there. I'm not saying he did it or knew about it, but shit maybe he can help with something. So, we, together, will go see him."

I could tell he was pissed but wasn't taking it out on me like he normally does. I nod and dial Dorghu.

Less than an hour later we walk into Dorghu's suite. It looks different during the day. Not as many people around. The female orc that led us to his suite shuts the door behind us and we sit.

"What's the problem, Nick?" he asks me, but never takes his eyes off Ward.

"Aella. She's in the hospital right now, very very ill." Dorghu's eyes move from Ward to me, waiting for me to continue. "Her blood tested positive for fairy blood. It's affecting her like it's a disease."

Dorghu's face gets serious and he stills when I tell him.

"Now I'm not insinuating that your people did anything to her, but hell someone or something must have while you and I were here, talking."

Dorghu stands and calls out "Oghtha!" in his loud booming voice.

The female orc that led us in walks back into the room, and stands next to the couch.

When she's standing there, his voice stays firm but not as loud, he asks for Draka.

Ward looks over at me, and I translate for him while Dorghu speaks to the girl.

She gently speaks back to him that she hasn't come in yet, her eyes on the ground, not meeting his.

He says something low, but very slow to make it a threat if she fails.

She turns and quickly leaves the room.

He sits and I ask him "Does the other girl know something?"

He sighs, lighting a cigarette. "Draka has a pet Fairy. I've told her I didn't want that fuckin thing in my club but she promised he was harmless. Fairies don't come here because they know we don't like them. For some fuckin reason she was smitten with this one."

He takes a long drag from his cigarette. "If I find out this happened to her while she was here, I'll cover any medical bills or assistance you need. And if Draka's fuckin fairy did it, I'll kill them both."

I hold my hand up, "well, nobody needs to die over it, I just want to figure out what happened…maybe it'll help me figure out how to help her get better."

Dorghu stops mid-ash and looked at me, then Ward, then back at me.

"oh shit. You don't know do you." he says, looking down.

Ward's hands cover his face, and I smell the panic in his sighs.

"Nick. Fairy blood is toxic to humans. It disintegrates their white blood cells, then the red blood cells, and the body shuts down. Another reason why I don't like those fuckers in here."

My body went numb. All I could focus on was seeing Aella in the hospital bed, tubes and wires all over the place. Ward's hand was on my shoulder, and Dorghu was saying something but it wasn't registering.

"No. NO!" I said, standing up, suddenly angry. "I'll find a way to help her. If I can get brought back from the DEAD, she can be helped too!"

Ward looks over at me, in shock. "Nick you're not thinking..-"

I cut him off. "Yes. Absolutely I am." Ward stood, causing Dorghu to stand.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?" He asks.

Ward looks over at him, and says "He's gonna find Tikka." He looks at me, concern in his eyes. I can tell he's upset about me making the decision to find her, but she's all I've got. That, and the throat of the fairy that did this."

"Who's Tikka?" Dorghu asks.

"She's the Infirni elf who brought me back to life, remember?"

Dorghu's eyes go wide, "THE BRIGHT?!"

I nod, pacing.

"Don't you dare think about bringing that bright here. No guns, no magic."

I hold my hands up: "I know, I know. I'm gonna bring her to the hospital and she what she thinks"

Ward immediately objects and we start arguing back and forth when Dorghu slams his fist on his desk, silencing us both.

"You guys are arguing like little school girls. You find the bright, and I'll find that fucking fairy. Deal?"

I nod, and look over at Ward. "Deal."

We're headed back to the hospital when Ward finally breaks the silence. "When were you gonna tell me that you still talked to Tikka?" He's looking at me with big expecting eyes.

"When were you gonna tell me that fairy blood is lethal to humans?" I ask, not looking at him.

He stays silent.

I sigh, "I don't actively talk to Tikka. But before she disappeared she told me how to reach her and she said if we ever need anything, to find her."

He's looking at me in silence while I continued driving.

We arrive at the hospital after a while and the nurses update us that she's still in the ICU, and we aren't allowed to see her yet. As the small framed human nurse explains to us what they've been working on, I hear a lot of voices around the corner and suddenly smell panic and arousal from several people around me. As I'm looking around to figure out what's going on, I see two suited men round the corner towards the nurse's station. Kandomere and his red headed partner. Ward looks over and remembers exactly who they are. "ahh shit. Of course they're here. Well there goes the Tikka idea."

"What?" I ask him, confused.

"Nick we already can't bring a bright into the hospital…and now these assholes are here? We DEFINITELY can't bring her. They'll detain her."

I thank the confused nurse and she walks away.

I look back over at the nurse's station and the charge nurse points over at us. When they recognize us, Kandomere's mouth forms a condescending smile. They make their way over to us, the tone of their greeting hinting that they aren't surprised to see us.

"Jakoby….Ward….How have you two been holding up?" Kandomere says, his partner grunting.

"Oh you know, just doing our jobs and taking it day by day, sir" Ward says, his tone sarcastically upbeat.

"Right. And why is it that when something strange with magic happens, I see you two again." he replies, more directed towards me, than Ward.

"Uh, sir, we have no idea how something like this can happen. We are just as lost as you are." I answer his question, realizing too late that it was rhetorical.

"So what's going on this time?" he asks, crossing his arms, his white eyes switching between me and Ward.

"I was with her this morning, and she started acting funny. Like she was sick..only I've never seen a human sick like this. Her body was so hot, and pale…and she had this certain smell to her, I don't know. She doesn't smell like she usually does anymore, she stopped smelling like herself last night ….after..….."

Ward looks at the ground, as my voice fades out knowing I might have just fucked up.

"So you were with her last night when this happened?" Kandomere asks. His partner pulled out a little pad and pen, and started scribbling.

I nodded, "yea. I uh….." I stammer, as I contemplate telling him that we're romantically involved. Either break my promise to Aella, or I'm instantly suspect number 1.

"Look, Aella and I are romantically involved. But no one at the station knows it yet, so for now, could you keep those details between us? At least until she and I decide when to broadcast it?" I ask him.

Kandomere is silent, his thumb running across his lips as he thinks.

"Ward, is this true? Are they together?" He says first.

Ward looks over, nodding. "yea. I didn't believe It at first either but, hey…." and he shrugs.

Kandomere looks back at me.

"I'll keep that bit of information out of it as best I can, but I'm going to need the rest of the story. What happened last night?"

As I catch him up on last night and this morning's events, we walk into the waiting area and have a seat. There isn't anyone else in the waiting room this time.

He thinks everything over, and asks "Why did Dorghu want you to come over to his shithole club in the first place?"

Ward turns and pays attention, also waiting for my answer. I try to form my answer in the best way I could, without making myself or Dorghu look bad. A clan leader and an orc cop meeting off the books will always look bad to everyone else.

"He's….he's thinking of opening another club on the other side of town. Wanted to know if I knew the area and if it would be a good neighborhood for it."

Kandomere stares at me for a few seconds, thinking.

Ward rubs his face while he says "He's telling you the truth"

Kandomere shifts his eyes over at Ward. "Jakoby doesn't lie, he's a good dude." Ward finishes.

"Pfffft, an orc who doesn't lie.." comes from the red-head .

A growl creeps up from my throat as I start getting frustrated. "You think I would lie about this to THE FEDS?!" my voice getting louder. The round guy stands and gets in my face. "That's my girlfriend over there laying on her death bed and you think I'm worried about lying to someone like YOU?" Ward's hand goes to my shoulder and Kandomere's hand goes up. "I told you what I know. Do what you want with it." I tell them with a growl, more aimed at the red-head. I walk out of the waiting room, to the nurse's station. I show the small human nurse my badge and grit my teeth while I tell her "take me to Aella Stone's room. Now."

Her eyes wide, she stands and rushes past me, I follow her while Ward, Kandomere, and his partner are standing in the waiting room still, watching me walk away.


	13. Chapter 13

**My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters**

 _[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows! I've noticed that the site is glitching for some and doesn't count 'Bright' as a category yet, but I'm working on that! Enjoy!]_

Chapter 13

When she shows me to her room, she opens the door but moves out of my way, letting me enter.

I close the door behind me and see an elf nurse adjusting some thin tubes around her head. She sees me and freezes, terrified. I hold a hand up and show my badge "I'm here for her, don't let me interrupt you." I slowly move towards Aella, looking her over, sniffing for any changes. She's sleeping, but there's an oxygen mask on her face, tubes running from it. The machine next to her beeps, steadily. She looks so frail under the gown and blankets. Seeing her like this forces all the anger to leave me, and I just want to pick her up and take her home.

"How is she doing?" I gently ask the nurse.

She hesitates, looking me over, then continues adjusting things.

"Is she yours?" she whispers. I nod, knowing what she meant.

"She's stable, but barely. She's not as bad as when she came in, which is odd. Usually humans who have been exposed to infected fairy blood don't last very long at all. I mean, even with her being here a few hours, she should have gotten worse, but she isn't. She's actually improved a bit, but she isn't out of the woods. She's still very weak."

It takes me a minute to process what she said. "Wait…….. you said infected fairy blood?"

She nods as she writes in a chart. "wh-….infected with what? I thought fairy blood was toxic to humans in general? "I ask her, lost again.

"We aren't sure what the infection is yet, but because of her condition, and what's got her sick, one of the other nurses got ahold of the Magic Taskforce to make sure there isn't magic being done here. Come look, look at her eyes." She sets down her chart and gently opens one of her eyelids, inviting me to come look. I get closer to the bed and look down to what she's showing me. Aella's eyes are still the same cold blue I knew, but when the nurse shined her little pen-light in them, they illuminated with green and pink.

She explains softly, "look, notice she has tapetum lucidum? Humans aren't supposed to have eyeshine."

She closes Aella's eyelid and puts away the small pen-like flashlight in her pocket.

My breathing picks up as so many thoughts and worries fill my head.

She starts walking towards the door and I tell her "thank you." She stops and says "you're welcome. But thank me by not repeating a word of what I told you here." and exits quietly.

I lean against the wall, thinking and processing all of this. I'm rubbing my head in my hands when a familiar scent seduces my nose. I look over at Aella and her eyes are open, looking at me.

I rush over and grab her hand in mine.

"Aella! …Aella I'm so glad you're awake…..can you hear me?" I put her hand to my lips. I feel a gentle squeeze from her hand.

She blinks a few times and a tear rolls down her face.

"Aella I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry I put you through this." I kiss her hand again, my throat is tight.

She's whispering something, very weak so I can't understand it.

"What is it…." I whisper to her. I put my head close to hers and I can barely make out the words:

"Where am I"

I softly cup her face in my hand and kiss her cheek, "you're at the hospital. I had to bring you, you were so sick this morning."

Her eyes close again, pushing a tear out. I kiss her forehead again, "it's okay baby I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here." her hand squeezes mine. Her scent is changing. It smells like her, but there's an undertone of something new. Something terrifying.

While I'm lost in thought, she dozes off back to sleep and I kiss her closed eyelids and put my cheek against hers. I whisper, "I gotta go find Ward. We're gonna get ahold of Tikka and she's gonna make you better. I won't be gone long, I promise."

I kiss her hand and quietly leave her room. Ward is standing in the waiting room staring intently at a tv when I walk in. He walks over to me, "did you see her? What did they say?"

I look over at the nurse's station and they're all there, with Kandomere and his partner, talking.

"Come on, let's go somewhere else. I'm not supposed to tell you this."

We walk outside to a smoking area, we were the only two out there. Ward lit a cigarette and listened while I updated him on what the nurse told me, and showed me in Aella's eyes. I didn't tell him Aella woke up for a few minutes. I didn't want to tell him that she knows about Tikka.

Ward went through 3 cigarettes while we talked about all this shit happening at once. We decided to leave just then, while we were already outside, and go get Tikka. We'd find a way to get her in without Kandomere and his ape finding out.

An hour later we're on the other side of the Elf District, away from much of the city, but not too far away from the glamour. They almost look like suburbs but not as busy. Most of the elves lived and shopped in the heart of the city. Right along the edge of the district is a large nursery for plants, gardens, and trees. Behind the shop is a very large, tan circus-like tent that is visibly full of large trees.

I pull into the parking lot of the nursery while Ward is looking on in amazement.

"Nick, where the hell are we?"

I turn off the truck and look at him, and then up at the tent.

"We're here to get Tikka. She works here." I tell him.

He looks at the building, then back at me. "she..what?..workshere?"

I slide out of the truck and he follows. When we get inside the building, there's plants and flowers and herbs everywhere. It's warm and humid in this building, making the smells that much stronger.

A young elf girl, maybe in her teens, came from around a corner with an empty pot in her hands. She froze when she saw us. "y-….yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

I stepped forward but Ward hung back, not wanting to scare the girl.

"Yes, my partner and I are here looking for Tikka?" I asked her, gently.

Her eyes darted back and forth between me and Ward.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small white folded cloth. I unfolded it and handed it to her. She took it, slowly while looking at me. She saw that it was a very small necklace, with a round silver pendant hanging from it.

She hands it back, and nods. "Please, follow me." she says, almost whispering. "Be careful not to disturb them…" she whispers, pointing at the plants.

She leads us behind a counter and through a door that leads outside, or at least it looked outside with the amount of trees standing around us. I look up and I see that we're under the tent. The further back we go, the taller and fuller the trees get before I start to figure out that the nursery was built alongside one of the city's last major wildlife areas. We're no longer walking on sand between potted trees, these trees are in the ground. I look up and the trees are thick enough to prevent me from seeing if we're still under the tent or not. The sun barely peeks through the leaves. She suddenly gets to the edge of a pond, and stops. Tikka is on the other side sitting on the edge, her hand in the water touching something. The young elf whispers to me, "Tikka needed a safe place to stay, so she lives and works here. She takes care of the injured mermaids in the pond."

The elf girl next to me makes a chitter sound to get Tikka's attention and then backs away, leaving us. Tikka looks up, startled. Her eyes go wide when she sees me and Ward. She stands and sprints to us, Ward chuckling. She jumps into my arms hugging me, "Jakoby!" I hug her tight and set her down. She throws her arms around Ward's neck and squeals, Ward smiling and hugging her back.

"heyyyy, how've you been?" Ward says, sincerely. Only Tikka could bring out the caring person that's buried deep inside him.

She smiles softly, and takes both our hands. "I've been good here, they take care of me because I help the injured mermaids. Here, come look." She starts pulling us along, and Ward looks at me, mouthing the word 'mermaid??' I shrug and follow her to where she was sitting. She sits along the edge, and makes gentle ripples along the surface, and waits. Slowly, a head covered in orange hair slowly comes above the surface. Bright green eyes come above the water level and pause. She's just far enough for us to see her clearly, but not close enough to grab her. She looks over at Ward and I, not recognizing us. Tikka whispers to her in a different language. She emerges more and her whole head comes above the water. Her skin shimmering, but not from being wet. The water beaded off her skin and hair.

"Her skin is made up of microscopic scales that are embedded in with her normal human skin cells, so mermaid skin naturally shimmers in the light." I explain to Ward. He looks at me confused.

"okay okay, yes I still talk to Tikka. Since she's been here, she told me all the things she's learned."

Ward looks back at the mermaid, who's chittering back and forth with Tikka, like they're kittens.

She emerges a little more, the water stopping at the top of her breasts. Ward's eyes are stuck on her and his jaw is slack. She stares back at him in wonder and Tikka reaches out to her, whispering.

She comes closer in the water to Tikka and whispers something in a different language. She whispers back and then looks up at us. "She is wary of you. She's never seen an orc but humans have been pursuing her for years. She was captured, but she refused to give up. She was injured in her escape, and she ended up here." She looks back down at the mermaid, holding her hand.

Ward is still entranced by the mermaid and I ask Tikka, "Tikka, are you also able to help humans who are sick?….it's the reason we came to see you today. We need your help." She tilts her head and smiles, but doesn't look up at me.

"Is this about your human friend? Aella?" Hearing her name snaps ward out of his trance and he looks at Tikka, listening to her.

"Yes, it is. She's very sick and nobody thinks there's anything that can be done for her to get better." I tell her.

The mermaid has come all the way up to the edge of the water, and is caressing Tikka's face.

Tikka pauses before answering.

"What's wrong with your human? What's causing her to be so sick?" she looks up at me finally when she asks.

"Uh..the uh… nurses at the hospital said she tested positive for fairy's blood. But then they said it's making her sick because the fairy's blood was infected. They don't know what's going on but I'm hoping you can help her?"

She stands and turns to me immediately. "You said infected fairy blood?" she looks at my eyes.

I nod, and her eyes fill with fear. She says "follow me!" suddenly and quickly starts walking.

Ward looks back at the mermaid, who's backed away from the edge of the water and sunk down so just her eyes were showing. "Ward! Come on, leave them alone…"

He turns and catches up to us.

We're speed walking through more trees, trying to hang on to passing smells in case I need to find my way back through this maze of trees. She slows down and stops right in front of a tree brush. We stop and she waits for Ward to come up. When he arrives, we hear tiny buzzes and small screeches. She puts her finger to her lips, telling us to be quiet. She pushes the tree brush to the side like a curtain and reveals a large clearing with small fountains all around. The smell of the flowers in here are intoxicating. Fairies buzz around all over the place, like bees. Some are sitting or bathing in the fountain, some are walking around the flowers and grass, eating.

I hear a flat "oh my god" from Ward as he looks in.

"Tikka, I'm not here for fairies, I need to know if you can help Aella"

"THIS is how we help Aella! Look in there!" She said in a loud whisper. "Those fire orange flowers over there? The dust that sits on their bloomed petals cures a sick fairy completely. It's their natural remedy for everything." she explains as we watch.

"How will that dust help Aella? She isn't a fairy."

She looks at me with low eyes: "ill bring you a flower petal. You keep the powder that comes off of it. Put a pinch in her mouth, she has to swallow it. That's the hard part. The taste is breathtakingly awful. That's why fairies are so cranky."

Ward chuckles, "Man. I never thought I'd see the day where I get to use actual fairy dust on someone."

"Really, Ward?" I ask with side-eye.

Before he could say anything else, Tikka calmly walked into their little realm of paradise towards their huge cove of the orange flowers.

She emerges with a small single dusty flower petal. I hold my hand out, not wanting to grab it with my fat fingers and knock all the dust off. She shakes her head and calls for us to follow her back up front.

She retrieves a baggie and holds it open so I can put the petal in.

She points at the door, and hugs us goodbye.

"Wait, Tikka……are you not coming with us?"

She smiles, "No. You have all you need, Jakoby." and she trots off back into the trees.

The first elf was behind the counter, waving us goodbye. She was alongside an older elf woman who was too focused on reading something to notice us leaving.

We get in the truck and I tuck the baggie into my pants pocket and take off back to the hospital.


	14. Chapter 14

****Chapter 14****

 ** **My story is inspired by the movie Bright. I don't own Bright or any original movie characters****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows! I've noticed that the site doesn't count 'Bright' as a category yet, but I'm working on that! Enjoy!]]__

Before walking into the hospital, Ward and I planned not to storm into the hospital, or give any hint at urgency. It would tip off the Feds that we knew something. We walked calmly back into the waiting room and grabbed a cup of coffee each from the vending machine. Kandomere and his pet were at the nurse's station questioning them, occasionally eyeing us.

I told Ward to relax, that I'd get back to her room and give her the damn fairy flower dust, as ridiculous as it is.

I go over the plan, whispering, "I go and give Aella the flower while you wait here and keep an eye on Kandomere and the nurses, I'll come back for confirmation, and then you can head home. I'm gonna stay with Aella a bit."

He nods in agreement and grabs another coffee before sitting down.

Just as I was about to head to her room, my phone rings. Ward and I both stop and look at my phone. The bright screen said Dorghu. I answer his call, "Officer Jakoby speaking…."

His deep voice coming through the phone: "Listen to you, sounding all official. HA!"

"Was there any update?" I ask, ignoring his ignorance.

"Sure was. Draka came in with her fairy and I asked her what happened. She claims her fairy never attacked her. Said he just sat on her shoulder all night, but I'm not convinced yet. Something's been up with that girl lately." Dorghu explains.

"Alright. Well I found Tikka, and she gave me something that may help." I tell him, aiming to keep the conversation positive.

"Ohh no. Nick, I thought I told you that fairy blood is tox-" he says, his voice lower.

"I'm not gonna take ghetto fairy tales to heart, I'm gonna figure this shit out. Keep your orc girl and that fairy nearby."

He agrees and we end the call.

Ward is looking at me in silence with big eyes.

"Nick, I don't know what got into you all of a sudden but I like it. Never thought you'd stand up for yourself when it came to Dorghu."

I shake my head, "No. It isn't about domination. It's respect. And today, my tank of give a fuck is running on empty. I have a girl to save." and I left the waiting room.

I remember how to get to her room and when I get to the door I walk right in, and this time I'm the only one in here with her. I close the door and shut the small curtain that covers the window.

I pull the baggie from my pocket and open it. The smell of this flower is stronger now that I'm not in the Elven Forrest anymore. I set the baggie down before removing the oxygen mask from her face gently. I dip my finger into the petal dust, open her jaw, and slide it under her tongue.

I put everything away and wash my hands at the small sink in the room. As I'm drying my hands, the elf nurse from earlier comes in to check on her. I continue toss the drying towel in the trash and join her at Aella's bed.

"Any changes?"I ask her as she's checking her vitals and fluid levels.

She says softly: "No changes yet. Which is good, it's better than her getting worse."

I agree with her and tell her, "She was awake earlier, shortly after you left"

The nurse looks up at me, "what?…she was awake?"

I nodded, "Yea…she asked me where she was, she squeezed my hand."

Her eyes looked very worried as she looked down at Aella, then back up at me, "Mr. Jakoby, she's in a coma, are you sure she was awake?"

 _ _No that can't be right. I saw her eyes open.__

I nod, "Yes. Her eyes were open, following me. She squeezed my hand." I hold up her hand to show her and I feel Aella's hand is very hot. I bring her hand to my face inhaling, expecting to smell something different. But it still smelled like her, with that terrifying undertone. The nurse notices me, and holds her other hand, dropping it when she feels the heat.

"Be careful" I growl at her. She retreats, eyes wide staring at me.

I sigh, regretting that. "I'm sorry. I didn't meant of frighten you. I'm just…I'm worried about her."

She nods, still cautious. She checks her temperature and her little tester says 112°. Her eyes go wide, but she's lost for words. She looks up at me blinking.

"What's wrong?"

She's looking back down at her tester, "She's got a very high fever. But…she's stable. Her body isn't reacting negatively to the heat. Human's body temperatures are supposed to be around 97-99°. Anything over 100 is very ill. But she seems to be doing fine, its baffling."

I stay silent, not wanting to slip up and say anything about Tikka's flower medicine.

She takes the chart with her, moving towards the door. "You gonna stay with her tonight?"

"Yes, if that's alright." I tell her. She hesitates, but then says "I'll have a reclining chair brought in for you. Have a good night, honey." she smiles as she exits.

I'm surprised into silence, I was prepared to just stay awake and watch over her through the night, but the little elf nurse is bringing me something to sleep on.

I go back out to the waiting room and see Ward talking to Kandomere. They silence as I get near them, but notice there isn't a nervous smell coming from Ward so I'm not worried.

"So, she seems to be doing better?" Kandomere asks, but his tone exposes that he knows everything I know.

"Yea, she's stable, but the nurse said she's far from 100%. I'm gonna stay with her tonight to keep an eye on her. If something happened to her while I was asleep at home, I couldn't live with myself."

Kandomere nods, his arms crossed against his chest. "Good idea. I want someone close in case anything happens." He bids us goodnight, and promises to be back tomorrow.

When the door shuts behind Kandomere, Ward quickly asks: "you get it?"

I nod at him and pat his back. "Yea I got it. You go home and be with your family, you've been running with us all day."

"Okay. I'll see you for shift tomorrow afternoon? Or you gonna call in?" he asks, walking out.

"I'll let you know", he throws a thumbs up as he leaves.

I make my way back into Aella's room, and against the wall there's a chair that's been unfolded into a bed. On top is a folded hospital blanket and a pillow.

I take off the hoodie I've been wearing. I can smell my own stench from the day and I hate it. I hope Aella doesn't smell it. I remove my shoes and push them under my foldabed. I scoot it closer to her bed and sit on it while I hold her hand, feeling that her body is still hotter than normal.

The Next Morning

I hear the door click open and I'm instantly awake, my hand on my gun.

I see the same elf nurse stop in her tracks. When I realize its just her, I take my hand off my gun and wave her in. She silently walks in and looks over Aella, checking things. I sit up and rub my face, sighing. I look over at Aella, who is still in the same position asleep.

"Get any rest?" the nurse softly asks.

"Doesn't feel like it."

After she leaves the room, I go to the sink and wash my face. I hear a soft "sssst" comes from Aella and I look over at her. Her eyes are open and shes got a weak smile on her face, looking at me.

I move over to her and take the oxygen mask off her face. I kiss her lips gently and look over her.

"heyyyy, how are you feeling?"

"Better" she whispers. "I feel like I'm catching up on sleep, like my body is regenerating." she says slower than normal. While she's talking, I push the nurse's button without her noticing.

I take her hand and she squeezes it, smiling again.

A few minutes later, the nurse elf peeks in and when she sees Aella awake, she rushes in and starts checking up on her. She's being calm but urgent. She maneuvers the bed so Aella is sitting up. She asks her questions and Aella answers them as best she can.

"Okay I'm going to check your eyes, okay?" She pulls out the little pen-light and shines it in her eyes.

I get up and come over to see if it happens again. The light illuminates her eyes again, greens and pinks. The nurse and I exchange a look and Aella says

"what's wrong? Why do you feel like that?" Aella whispers to me.

"feel like what, love?" I ask her, cupping her face.

"You're worried. You're worried something is wrong with me…" her eyes boring into mine.

I feel dizzy and I blink hard a few times, looking at the floor. I look back at Aella and her eyes are on my chest, filling with tears.

"Is something wrong with me?" She whispers again, starting to cry.

I look at the nurse for answers, while I put my cheek against hers.

"shhhh, nothing is wrong with you. You're improving every day." I tell her.

She looks at the nurse, who nods. "When you first came in, you were in really bad shape. You've improved a lot, and we're essentially holding you here to keep an eye on you" she says to Aella, to make her feel better.

"What's wrong with me? What's making me sick?" Aella asks, weakly.

I look at the nurse to see if she's going to tell her, or hide behind the "we're doing tests" excuse.

She sighs and says "Your body somehow came in contact with infected fairy blood. We're waiting on results to come back and tell us what infection it is that has caused your body to react so negatively."

I look down at her, holding her face and whisper; "baby do you remember anything about a fairy last night when we were at Dorghu's club?"

Suddenly her eyes widened but seemed to be focused on something else instead of what was in front of her, as if she was replaying a memory. "yes…" she whispered as her eyes stayed zoned out.

I'm speechless and surprised. I wasn't expecting her to remember much at all, never mind seeing a fairy. Dorghu said nothing happened to her while she was there. Either he's lying or his staff is lying.

I hold my anger in because I'm with Aella. I ask her "where was this, what happened?"

She whispers, "walking down the stairs, the orc in gold with the fairy. He touched my finger and it burned me…" She seems to snap out of her trance and looks at my eyes.

The elf nurse picks up her hands, looking at all her fingers. She sees her right index finger has a small circular black smudge, with a small abrasion and dried blood.

"oh dear…." she says in her soft voice.

She shows me her finger and it all falls into place, at least up until figuring out what's going on with her body. I nod and put a very gentle kiss on her lips.

"I've got some stuff to go take care of. I'll be back in a little bit, you get some rest, okay?"

She nods, no longer crying but her eyes still wet with tears. The nurse brings over a few things and swabs her finger before cleaning it and adding a bandage. I give her a look and she nods, meeting me in the hallway, out of Aella's earshot.

"Are you going to bring this new information to Kandomere?" I ask her, in a low voice.

She nods telling me, "Yes. But, I see what she means to you, and I know you're a good cop. I have several other rooms on my run before heading back to the nurse's station. I'd say you've got an hour and half head start." she says smiling.

I thank her and walk towards the exit, calling Ward as I get to my truck.

I wait for Ward in the hidden spot we use to park when we head to Dorghu's. When he pulls up in the squad next to me, we walk towards the club together. He's completely caught up on what's going on, and not as well as I am at hiding his anger. His face is low and he smells of adrenaline. "Ward we're only in here to talk to him, not make the situation worse. Kandomere has eyes and ears everywhere, if something happens you know he'll be the next one through those doors before we can figure anything out." I explain to him, hoping he doesn't get trigger happy while we're in here. It didn't work out so well for us the last time.

"Jakoby, you do your job, let me do mine" he retorts.

I stop walking, we're in one of the hallways before the entrance to the club. "Ward…."

He turns to look at me sighing, "aight look. I'll try to keep my mouth shut while you ask all the questions. But I swear to god if I find out he was behind this, I won't be able to stay quiet." he says, in a low, serious tone.

I clap my hand onto his shoulder, "Look I know you're upset, and I really do appreciate you sticking by me on this…but we need to do this smart. Nobody wants to find out what happened more than I do. So let's do this right. For Aella."

He nods and we knock on the door to enter.

After being escorted to Dorghu's suite, he sends everyone away and lights a cigar.

"How's Aella doing?"

I stay silent, just looking at him.

"I guess that means she isn't doing well. I've only seen one other human come in contact with fairy blood, and they didn't last very long before they died. I guess that's why your partner here smells like he's ready to go to war."

I hadn't considered Dorghu being able to smell Ward, I was too wrapped up into Aella.

"Ward is a bit worked up about the current situation." I tell him.

He takes the cigar out of his mouth, "Which is?"

"Aella woke up today. From her coma. Told us that your escort girl was taking her downstairs when her fairy touched her." Dorghu's face straightened as he listened. "…Said that when it touched her, it burned. She's got a gash and a black burn on the tip of her finger." I demonstrated, showing him my index finger.

He reaches over to the phone on his desk and pushes one button, says a few words in orcish, and then says out loud, "Draka is on her way up." and he continues to smoke from his cigar in silence.

I look over at Ward who is doing surprisingly well, probably because Dorghu doesn't seem to be hiding anything. I never expected him to be behind anything, so whatever happens today will be a complete surprise.

After a few minutes, one of the bigger orcs he usually keeps at his side comes through the door pulling along a female orc by her arm, her hands tied.

He pulls over a chair from a corner and sits it right next to Dorghu. He grabs her and forces her to sit in it. She doesn't look at anyone, her eyes on the floor.

Dorghu turns to her, and let's out a large cloud of smoke over her head.

"Remember when I asked you about your fairy and the girl from the other night?"

She nods, still looking at the ground.

"What was your answer?" He says, sitting back into his chair.

She says in a low voice, "I said that my fairy never touched her."

"riiiight," he says, exhaling smoke. "So why is it that I've got at least three people over here telling me it did. One of them being Aella herself."

Her eyes are shifting around nervously. She whispers in orcish, hesitating "I …I don't know. Maybe he did tou-"

And before she could finish her sentence, Dorghu stood and picked her up by her neck in one motion, growling in anger as he held her up. "ARE YOU FUCKING LYING TO ME?!" he yelled in her face.

He brought her face to his, her hands pulling at his to loosen his grip. He whispered to her, "did your fairy….touch…Aella?"

Her face tense and red from not breathing. She closes her eyes tight and forces out a stifled "yes."


	15. Chapter 15

****Chapter 15****

Ward and I are both on our feet as soon as she said yes. Dorghu gritted his teeth and his grip tightened with his full strength. Her breath left her as her face changed from red to purple as his grip crushed her throat and spinal cord together. He dropped her and her body fell limp, dead. Ward and I watching, shocked.

"Come clean this bitch up." he ordered one of his large guards. He looked over at another orc we didn't know was there, and yelled "bring me that fucking fairy!" The guy nodded and left.

I sat down in shock at him killing a girl right in front of us. I couldn't decide if she was harmless or not.

Dorghu's voice breaks my thoughts: "what, you gonna arrest me?"

Ward's head shaking catches my attention. He's looking Dorghu directly in his eyes, standing up, shaking his head. "Nope. She just admitted to her fuckin' fairy making Aella sick. If you didn't get her, I was."

Dorghu nodded and watched the first guard walk out of the room with the dead orc girl's body flung over his shoulder.

"Dorghu when they bring the fairy, don't kill it." I tell him.

Both Dorghu and Ward look at me, silent, with confused faces.

"They don't know what's wrong with Aella. If they can figure out what's in this fairy's blood maybe they can find a way to make her better." I explain to them.

Dorghu is already shaking his head, "Nah. I'm ready to squish this little fucker like the pest he is. And if I let you take him? You'll tell them where you got it and this place will be crawling with feds. I already don't like __cops__ at my place, I do NOT want feds here too."

I'm going to convince him. "She's already stable and improving. But it's changing her body. Her eyes aren't the same. They change colors when you shine a light into them."

Ward's eyebrows shoot up, "say what now? That shit is turning her into something?"

I had never considered it to be a transition into something else, but more of a side effect. But now that he's mentioned it, I start wondering the same.

"uh, I…I don't know." I tell him, but neither of them are convinced.

"Look, either way, they need that fairy so they can run tests. If the fairy is dead, so is what's inside it. And right now, we need to find out what that is. After that, toss the fucking thing into a fire, I don't care."

They look at each other, and nod in agreement. "Fine."

And, as if on cue, the door opens. We all turn to look, as the other large orc walked back into the room holding a medium sized cage with a handle on top. In the cage is the fairy, hunched in a corner barring his teeth in fear and anger. The light in the room caused his luminescence to shine, the familiar greens and pinks like I saw in Aella's eyes. His little wings folded against his back as he's pushed himself against the back of the cage. He's making a quiet screeching noise, and I can smell his tiny scent of fear as he goes by us. He sets the cage onto Dorghu's desk. Dorghu sits down and stares at him for a few seconds before blowing two lungs full of cigar smoke into his cage, causing his shrieking to get louder.

The entire reason Aella is laying in a hospital bed right now is in that cage, feet away from me.

I wanted to step on him and feel him crunch, and it makes me uncomfortable to feel this way.

I blink at the floor for a few minutes, gathering my thoughts while looking away from the fairy.

Aella remembers that it happened at his club, which is what she'll say when Kandomere inevitably questions her now that she's awake. I look at my watch and we've still got time.

"Dorghu, we've gotta figure out what to tell the feds about why there was a fairy here. Because they will find out, there's no way to keep that from them. Aella remembers everything, and she isn't going to lie to the feds."

He's rubbing his chin, thinking, while staring at the fairy in the cage. He then looks up, and says "get the clothes off that dead bitch. Wash them and tell Oghtha to put them on for tonight. Have her come see me when all this is done."

I look at him, seeing that he's figured out a plan.

I don't ask him, and he doesn't tell. He knows what I know. He doesn't want to give away that we're cooperating with him. His plan will be a surprise to all of us, including the feds.

I grab the cage, and keep it away from Ward as we walk back to the trucks. While I'm sliding it into the backseat of my truck, Ward sits in his driver's seat watching.

"That thing better not try anything with you either" he says.

I close the back door and open the driver's door.

"That's if he's still alive when I get to the hospital." I say before sliding into the truck and closing the door.

"Ay!" Ward yells, stopping his truck mid-reverse. "If you plan on killing that thing, I want to help! Don't do that in secret!"

I shake my head, "I'm not. I'll meet you at the hospital"

I walk in the emergency room with a blanket draped over the cage as I carry it.

I set it on the counter at the nurse's station getting their attention.

"Who's the charge nurse?" I ask.

An older elf woman in green scrubs, holding a thick phone-like thing steps forward, raising her hand.

"That's me hun, what do you need?" she asks, mildly annoyed that an orc just set a cage on her nurse's station.

"I have the fairy that's got my girlfriend sick" I say, and immediately all the humans shifted away. Her face straightened as she realized who I was.

"Okay, wait right there, I'll call the lab first and then get Kandomere down here." she says, picking up the phone.

I look around for the nurse that's been monitoring Aella. I don't see her, and the charge nurse sees me. "Nurse Tinil is still doing her rounds, there hasn't been any updates on Aella just yet."

She calls over the phone saying they need to come get the cage and prepare equipment that sounds complicated.

A few minutes later a few guys in white lab coats walk around the corner towards me. The charge nurse that called them also comes over saying, "here it is." They slowly peek under the sheet to see if it's there, and they hear a shrieking when the curtain comes up. They immediately drop the sheet, covering it again, looking over at me. I shrug, "I don't know what to do with it, this is your job."

They find the handle and pick up the cage, walking back to the lab with it. As I was walking back towards the waiting room to grab a coffee, I see the reflection of a familiar elf nurse. I turn and she smiles at me, heading to the nurse's station. I continue to grab my coffee and then head towards Aella's room to wait. It wont be long before Kandomere comes in looking down his nose at us while asking us questions. A few minutes alone with Aella will help calm my nerves.

I enter her room and sit quietly, she's sleeping. I scroll mindlessly through my phone while drinking my coffee and I hear her stir and wake. She yawns and looks over at me, blinking for a few seconds.

Aella POV

He's trying to be quiet so as not to wake me but I woke from feeling him in the room. He wasn't really making any noise, just his phone clicks and occasional swallows of coffee.

His body is radiating relief, where as earlier it felt like a wave of heat and anger washed over him right before he left. I'm glad he isn't pissed anymore, but now I'm wondering what he's waiting for.

"You're feeling better…what happened when you left?" I ask.

He gives me a surprised look. "And you're sounding better. Don't worry about what I've been up to, it's essentially just trying to figure out what's going on with you and how to help you get better." he says, looking over my face.

Before I can say anything, my chest is suddenly warm when he looks at me, his ears flicking.

"I love when your ears twitch. It's cute." I whisper to him, smiling.

His cheeks blush a bit and he looks away, and I feel the warmth moving from my chest, down, pooling between my legs. I feel tightness around my groin, but it doesn't make sense because I'm wearing a gown and I don't have the appendage to make the gown tight…..and then I realize that what I'm feeling, is radiating directly from Nick. Testing this theory, I whisper, "as soon as they clear me to go home, I want you to take me to bed and show me how much you missed me."

His eyes grow a little as he looks at me, his eyes moving from my eyes to my lips. As I finish my sentence, the heat between my legs grows and suddenly the whole room seems to be too small and hot as my urge feels as if I could tear this room apart, board by board. It almost drives me crazy, but then I see him stand and blink a few times, smiling down at me. I'm wondering how he's able to calmly stifle this overbearing urge to fuck something? Did human men feel like this too?

He leans down and pushes some loose hair behind my ear. "I'll do whatever you want as soon as you're better, but if you don't watch it with those bedroom eyes you're making at me, I may have to have my way with you now."

He's just standing there looking at me, calm as can be. Meanwhile I'm over here about to burst wondering what strength he has to be able to hold this in. His eyes are looking at my chest, and my breaths have picked up, my back arching a little from all the heat pulsing between my legs.

"Aella….." He says, giving a quick look at the door. "We can't do this right now…and you're making it really hard not to touch you."

It's not like I could turn this off. I'm feeling what he's feeling and it's turned into a vicious circle because he's watching my body react to it.

 _ _Touch you…touch me, please__

"touch me please" I whisper, not intending to. That thought slipped…..

His ears flicked and he sighed, looking down at me and back at the door.

He slips his hand under the blanket, goes under my gown between my legs and finds my hot mound and wet panties, a small gasp came from his mouth. His fingers slowly start massaging up and down waiting for my lips to part. I'm already gripping the sheets, quietly moaning…

He's watching my face, his breathing getting faster. His fingers move my panties to the side and they slide smoothly up and down my slippery folds. I'm biting my lip to keep from getting too loud. His lips come down and meet mine to help keep me quiet.

When his mouth catches mine completely, he slides a finger in and my moan is stifled by him. I hear a low growl coming from his chest as he moves his finger in and out, his mouth still on mine-tasting all my moans and screams. A small glow of pride warmed my chest before I got completely distracted with the overwhelming feeling of lust from his larger than human fingers, my hips grind against his hand in reaction. I hear the gentle squishing noise from under the blankets and it turns me on more. I slide my hand over to feel for him, and his body is right next to me. His groin area hot and bulging tight in his pants. I run my hand up and down his length and immediately intimidated by his size, but feigning for it at the same time.

 _ _Why isn't that inside me__

My other hand has slid down and grabbed his hand under the blanket, to somehow pull him deeper inside me. My head tilts back, as I feel my pussy tighten and waves of orgasm radiate from his fingers quickly rubbing against my g-spot. His free hand slid smoothly over my mouth to silent my screams. His mouth on my neck.

As my body relaxes and the orgasm dissolves away with most of the heat that filled me. He slowly slides his finger out of me and i moan, sadly.

 _ _Don't go__

He slides that finger into his mouth, and sucks off all my juices as he walks over to the sink, his nostrils flaring in and out. He washes his hands and wets his face with cool water. I feel my heat leave, but I still feel Nick's heat. He didn't get his release yet.

"Nick come here" I whisper.

He turns and looks at my sleepy eyes, smiling.

"Baby as much as I want to tear you up right now, Kandomere is going to walk in here really soon and I cant exactly talk to the Feds, or the hospital nurses, with a hard on."

I'm giggling and he finishes washing his hands and drying his face.

A few minutes later, the elf nurse gently knocks and peeks in. Nick stays in his seat but waves at her to come in. She comes in and walks over to me, looking at my eyes and face. Only now did I realize there was a heart monitor off in the corner, and right now it was coming down from an orgasm. She puts her hand on my forehead and cheeks, looking at my temperature on the screen where my heart rate and bp stats are.

"Honey, you're flush and burning up, what's going on? You were fine earlier.."

I feel my cheeks get hot as I look over at Nick, who is suddenly very interested in an irrelevant magazine ad-obviously ignoring us. I'm poorly hiding a smile, and try to shrug my shoulders.

She looks down at me, then my body, her nose flaring in and out sniffing, and immediately looks over to Nick. Her mouth forms into a side smile and she goes back to adjusting my tubes and things around me. She softly says "I'll get you a wheelchair, and Nick here can walk you outside and get some fresh air for a few minutes, how's that sound? You're stable enough for it."

Nick looks over at us, and I'm not sure if I want to get up after what just happened.

She continues, "while you're getting some fresh air, I'll have my girl come and give you some fresh comfy sheets, new gowns, and clean undies, okay?" I felt her hinting at something else.

Nick stands, "that's a great idea Aella, come on, let's go get some fresh air, maybe some snacks."

I have no choice but to agree so Nick helps me from the bed, doing most of the lifting due to my legs still being jelly. He sets me down into a wheelchair that was folded in the corner. He grabs a blanket and lays it over my lap. I wrap my hair up into a messy bun and settle into the chair. I look up at him, ready. He smiles and tells the nurse thank you as we head out.

As we get further from the room Nick leans over to my ear, "she knew what we did. She's just cleaning up to keep you comfortable." he chuckles. I giggle but I'm slightly embarrassed.

After 30 minutes of walking around the hospital's atrium we head back to my room. We've agreed that he's going to help me shower as soon as I can. If no one is in the room when we get back, that's the first thing I want to do. I'm also still not ready to face the nurse that shares our secret. You very rarely heard of humans and orcs being romantically involved.

We enter my room and it's not empty. Watching us walk in is the elf nurse, a well dressed elf with blue hair, and another guy-very round with red hair and a matching beard. All their faces are very serious. I feel a flicker of worry rise from behind me, Nick. I get a closer look at these two as Nick lifts me out of the chair and back into my freshly made bed. As I get settled under the covers and the wheelchair is put away nobody speaks. I feel sparks of annoyance, impatience radiating from the blue haired elf as Nick puts the folded wheelchair away. He's attractive, but more intimidating. His white eyes looking me over.

The nurse softly says, "honey, this is Kandomere." she says, raising her hand to the blue haired elf.

He nods, and his partner behind him introduces himself by grunting and showing us his badge.

As I read it, Nick says it out loud: "Magic Task Force, yeah we know. What do you need with Aella, Montehugh?"

"Oh cut the shit orc, we know what's going on with her" Montehugh says.

I don't like his attitude but I don't think its the right time to have an attitude back. Both guys are rank with curiosity and they won't stop looking at me.

"Does someone want to tell ME what's going on with me?" I ask out loud, to everyone.

Nick looks down at me, silent, but there's something behind his eyes. He knows something.

"You've come in contact with infected fairy blood. If your body had reacted normally, you'd be dead right now." I freeze, listening to him. __I'm supposed to be dead?__


	16. Chapter 16

****Chapter 16****

I'm so glad yall are enjoying it! 3

Kandomere continues explaining that humans often got sick when coming in contact with regularly healthy fairy blood, and coming in contact with infected fairy blood was definitely lethal to us. So the fact that I have sick fairy blood running through my blood as I sit here alive and kicking, is why they are here. They want to make sure magic isn't being used to keep me alive. Nick told them countless times he no longer has the wand, and that he'd never mess with one again.

So they start asking me. What, when, where, why, etc.

Before answering, Nick gives me a nod letting me know it's okay to tell them everything. I'm not sure what they know about us being at Dorghu's place, but if Nick says it's okay, then I tell them everything I know. Showing them my finger while going through the details of what I remember, while Monte scribbles into a small pad while I talk.

He asks if I've ever seen a small timid elf with Nick and I say "no" confused. Nick growls at Kandomere as he says "I told you I haven't seen Tikka since the incident. I don't even know if she's alive."  
He looks at Nick's face for a few seconds thinking, then looks back at me.

"I think we have almost everything we need. There's just one last thing. We've already gotten approval through the hospital clearing your health, you're going to go with us to Dorghu's club and show us who had the sick fairy as a pet."

I look up at Nick, and I don't feel anything negative. He's content, looking down at me smiling.

"it'll be okay, I'm going with you."

Kandomere stops us and says, "Officer Jakoby we won't need your services with us tonight, we only need Aella's."

His pupils dilate and a growl grows from his chest. "You can fuck off If you think she's leaving my sight again! I go with her, or she doesn't go at all." He said through his teeth, the heat from his anger embracing me.

Kandomere straightened up and stared down Nick. Before he could say anything to make this situation worse, the nurse elf spoke up: "uh….sir…He wouldn't be accompanying her as an officer on duty, but as her support system in case her health starts to fall while she's not at the hospital. I highly suggest he go with you so he can keep an eye on Aella." Her big doe eyes batting her lashes.

I can see her batting her eyes for Kandomere but I feel her pull towards Nick. She's on our side. She's been helping us this whole time.

Kandomere sighs and Monte grumbles. "Fine, let's fucking go already" he says motioning towards the wheelchair.

"No. I'll carry her. If something happens, she's already in my arms and I don't have to worry about a wheelchair or anything being in the way." Nick says, quickly.

He nods and says, "whatever. Get her dressed, she isn't going with us while she's naked under a gown." and him and Monte exit my room.

"what's he talking about, Nick?" I ask, immediately. "Who's Tikka?"

I notice the nurse's eyes glimmer a bit when I say Tikka's name. Nick sighs and tells me about the incident Kandomere was referring to earlier. It was almost a year ago that he and Ward helped a young elf escape Infirni and protect her and a magic wand. It made sense why the nurse elf took to him. It didn't bother me at all that someone else had a crush on him. I knew he wasn't going anywhere. She quietly left and I looked at Nick. "Hey, fuck em. Make em wait. I want a shower since you're going to change me anyway." I tell him.

He looks around nervously as he helps me from the bed. "uh…I don't think that's a good ide-"

I cut him off, "Nick I'm going to shower, with or without your help. It will only take a few minutes, I promise." I start walking slowly to the bathroom door and he reluctantly helps me walk to the shower.

After 10 minutes, I'm putting my wet hair into a quick braided bun and Nick slides my shoes on. I'm wearing sweats and one of Nick's t-shirts so its loose and smells like him.

I sigh, "alright, I'm ready."

He nods and picks me up, bride style.

When we get to the hospital entrance, a black suv rolls up to us. It's evening already and it's raining, gray sky and everything. Nick smiles down at me, he knows I love this weather.

An orc in a black suit gets out of the passenger seat and opens the door for Nick. He sets me in there and I scoot over so he can get in. He shuts the door behind us and we're off, following three black cars in front of us.

The entire ride to Dorghu's club, Nick's grip never loosened on me. He held me tight at his side even though it was just us two. The cars and the SUV stop on the street along a curb that sits right in front of a back alleyway. The back alleyway that leads to Dorghu's hidden entrance. Everyone gets out, not bothered by the rain. One of the orcs is following Kandomere with an umbrella as he makes his way over to our door. the passenger orc opened our door and had an umbrella opened for us already.

Nick slides out and then reaches in and picks me up again. We follow Kandomere all the way down into Dorghu's club. I noticed that he never stopped and asked for directions.

One of the two large orcs that hold the door walk us back into Dorghu's suite, hes sitting in his chair, as if he's expecting us. He smokes a cigar watching us come in.

Kandomere makes an annoyed sigh at the smell of smoke. I look at his eyes and a wave of unapologetic and satisfaction hits me. He's smoking on purpose.

Nick sits down in one of the chairs and adjusts me onto his lap. Dorghu looks at me intently, searching for something. The orcs leave and it's just us 5 in the room: Me, Nick, Kandomere, Monte, and Dorghu.

They start asking him questions about fairies and I look at Nick, who's just watching their conversation while never losing grip on me. He's not worried. He's content, like he's already seen this exchange happen. Their conversation is in the background, I'm not listening. I look at each of their faces, trying to see what I pick up from each of them. Kandomere is full of curiosity, and he's got his guard up as if he's expecting something to happen. From Monte I pick up that he's unimpressed and annoyed. Before I can look at Dorghu, they all three look at me. This pulls me from my focus and I'm waiting for someone to say something.

"Aella.." Kandomere says. "It was here, at this club, that a fairy touched you?"

I look at Dorghu, and he looks at me. I feel his waves of content washing over me.

I look back at Kandomere, "yes, it was here. It wasn't in this room though. I was being led downstairs by a orc girl, and the fairy was sitting on her shoulders."

He nods, verifying that my story is still the same. "Alright."

He looks at Dorghu, asking "Which one of your girls has a fairy as a pet?"

"She's downstairs somewhere. I'll call her up." Dorghu says, touching a button on his desk phone.

It beeps and he says "Bring Oghtha here now." and it clicks.

He sits back in his chair, smoking his cigar, eyeing Monte and Kandomere. A spark of worry lights in Nick and I look at his eyes. He looks at me and winks. The door opens and a large orc following a smaller framed female orc comes in. They all look at her. I notice she's wearing the same dress as the girl orc was wearing

"Oghtha have a seat please." Dorghu says, and she sits. The large orc leaves, shutting the door.

"Kandomere, this is Oghtha. The girl that had a fairy as her pet. Feel free to ask her any questions." Dorghu says. I watch Dorghu say this and I pick up a spark of excitement beneath his focus.

Kandomere turns to her and starts talking to her. I listen to her talk and the only thing I feel from her is confidence. I wasn't expecting her to be free of any worry. It was her fairy that got me sick….

"Aella" I hear Kandomere suddenly say my name, catching my attention. I look up at him and he nods towards the orc girl. "is this the girl who had the fairy?"

I recognize the dress but not her face. And I realize I don't remember much about her face because it was dark the night we were here. Only flashing lights lit up part of her face. She looks at me while I study her face. The dress checks out more than anything else.

"yes" I tell Kandomere.

He nods and he tells Monte to cuff her.

She stands up quickly, "what?! wait! Why am I being arrested?" she looks at Dorghu…

Dorghu stands up, his face starting to anger. Monte moves to the girl opening cuffs.

"Why is she being arrested? There are no charges" Dorghu says.

Kandomere lifts a hand, "we aren't charging her with anything just yet. We're going to take her into questioning and get more details about this fairy of hers." he says as Monte closes the cuffs on the girl.

Now I'm picking up worry from both the girl and Dorghu.

"Don't say anything until my lawyer gets there…" Dorghu points at the orc. She nods.

Kandomere smirks at Dorghu. "now…why would she need a lawyer to save her, if she hasn't done anything wrong?" He turns on his heel and leaves the room, followed by Monte, who's holding the girl by her cuffed hands.

Nick stands, carrying me still. As they leave the room, Nick is still standing and he's looking at Dorghu for a few seconds with confusion all over his face. He wants to say something, but doesn't. Dorghu nods at Nick and we leave. When we get back into the SUV, the truck doesn't move. It isn't raining anymore but it's still gray outside. Kandomere suddenly exits the front car and walks back to the SUV Nick and I are in. He opens the door, looking in at us.

"How is she feeling?" he asks Nick, looking at me.

They're both looking at me when I tell them "I feel fine. I bit hungry, but fine."

He nods. "Alright. I'm gonna have my driver bring you back to our station with us. We want to try something with you. After that, We'll bring you back to your room with dinner. Deal?"

I nod, "okay…"

He closes the door and we leave.

30 minutes later I'm sitting in a small room with a window that looks into another room. Those cop interrogation rooms with a table and few chairs. In the chair is the female orc, cuffed hand in her lap. Shes looking at the table, mindlessly, silent. Nick agreed to stand out in the hall since he couldn't interfere with a case he isn't on, and didn't want to be any further from Aella. Kandomere walks in with Monte and they're mumbling about something, but quiet down when they enter. Monte is confused, but holds a calm face. Kandomere is confident, curious. He's got a plan, and I don't know it yet. I have a feeling it has a lot to do with me.

Kandomere speaks softly because it is such a small room, and if he spoke at his normal tone, it would be too loud for comfort. His voice being low let's me catch onto his accent.

"the nurse was telling me that your body is having a very different reaction to the fairy blood than what is the normal reaction from humans." I look into his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask. I have noticed some changes recently but I still didn't know what was going on with me, and it sounded like he might know.

"Have you noticed any changes? Within yourself?" he looks at me, intently.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat, "um….yea, kinda. But it's not really a big deal…"

His eyes glimmer. "What have you noticed?" He leans against a wall, his arms crossed.

"I…I thought we were coming to interrogate the orc, not me. What did I do?"

"We aren't interrogating you sweetheart, I'm experimenting with the changes your body has made because of the fairy blood. I think you'll be able to help us. That makes you very special. So if we can pinpoint these changes and get you to channel them, you could be something very very useful and important to us."

I think about what Nick would say. He would only want what's best..he has no other motives except that he most certainly cares about me.

"Bring Nick in. I want him to know what's going on. This is about me right now, and I want his input. Once we're done with me and you get back to the case, he can leave." I tell Kandomere.

He stares at me with his icy eyes for a few seconds before nodding at Monte.

Monte opens the door and calls him, "Jakoby.."

He's at the door instantly, and walks in. He comes straight to me, "what is it?"

"I want you to know what they're asking. I want your input." I tell him, as he pulls me against him.

He nods, looking at them. "alright, what is it?"

Kandomere goes into the same speech he just told me. But now that Nick is here, he goes a bit further. Monte comes over with a flashlight and Kandomere holds his hand out, "your hand, please?"

I give him my hand, princess-like. He holds my hand up, and Monte shines the light directly onto my skin. There is a faint shimmer of pink and green, as if someone rubbed a light swatch of makeup highlighter on my hand and arm. I jerk my arm away and look at it again, no light on it. There is no shimmer, just regular skin.

I give my hand back, slowly…and he brings the light back to it. The shimmer returns and I start to feel panic.

 _ _Why is my body changing? What am I going to become?__

Kandomere's face is suddenly in front of mine and he's saying something about my eyes.

"May I look into your eyes? Your eyes have a bit of change as well…"

I stare at him for a few seconds, terrified…but I nod yes.

Monte gently shines the light into my eye at an angle, and both their faces change into surprise. Nick's face didn't change because he's seen this before whenever the nurse did it.

"What?…what's wrong with my eyes?" I ask, and Nick cups my face with his hand.

"Nothing's wrong with your eyes love, they're just different than what they used to be. When we get back to the room soon, I'll show you. Your body is changing in amazing ways, and I think you're gonna like what you see." Nick tells me. That calms the panic that was building in my chest. Nick's calm washes over me.

I look at Kandomere and nod, ready for what's next.

"Now the last part, is my personal favorite. What the nurse has noticed, and what I have also noticed…is that you can pick up on other's moods. I've been watching you all day and I've seen it first hand. So I'm thinking if you can tap into that, you may be able to help us solve some cases." Kandomere says, looking at me. I hear Monte scoff as if he isn't gonna believe any of the shit Kandomere is saying. I may not have noticed that my skin is changing, or that my eyes are changing, but I have noticed that I can feel what others around me are feeling. Not so much reading their thoughts…but more picking up on the body's reaction of sorts.

I look at Kandomere, thinking. "Okay, so how would I be able to help you?"

Kandomere nods and looks at Nick. "This is where you go back into the hallway."

Nick looks at me, silently asking if I'm okay. I nod and squeeze his hand.

He leaves the room and Kandomere turns to me, his face serious.

"This case may be about you, but I want to see how much you can do."

I nod, mentally preparing myself.

"You are going to join Montehugh and I in the room while we talk to her. We are going to ask her questions, and you're going to sit off to the side and try and feel if she's lying or if she's up to something else. And that's for everyone that you join us for questioning." he explains.

It doesn't sound too bad so I nod and agree to join them. They gather some folders and walk into the hallway towards the next room where the orc girl was sitting.

Nick watches us go into the next room. I find a chair in the corner when we walk in and sit in it, and she's just silently watching us. I don't feel anything negative coming from her.

Kandomere stands against a wall, watching her as Monte sits in the chair across from her. He starts asking her questions and Kandomere comes to whisper in my ear, "this is where I need you to focus on her, what she's feeling. If her response doesn't match what she's feeling, you let us know."

I nod, "yea, got it."

I focus on her, looking at her eyes while she answers Monte's questions and talks to him. Her answers are clear and confident, as if she has nothing to hide, but I feel something there, under her answers. I don't know what they are, and I'm wishing I had gotten mind-reading instead of just being able to feel what they feel. If I tell them she's hiding something, they would change their questions and inevitably get to the root of what's going on, and that gave me a bad feeling.

She looks at me and I feel my chest start to warm. Kandomere can tell by my face that I've picked up on something. He moves closer to me, watching both me and the girl. Her face stays clear and serious as she talks to Monte. But every time she glances at me, I feel warmth growing in my chest again. It's similar to what I felt from Nick, but a bit different.

I look up at Kandomere and whisper, "can I sit closer to her?"

He thinks about it, and nods. I stand and scoot the chair closer, causing Monte to pause his questioning. When I settle in my chair he resumes and the orc girl shifts in her seat.

Her answers go along seamlessly with what I remember happening that night. 'She didn't know her fairy was sick', 'she often had them as pets', etc. Monte showed her a few pictures, but she didn't recognize any of them. She's never seen the girls in the photos, a magic wand, nor does she want to meet either. She's learned that they come with negative side effects.

She glances back at me again and the warmth in my chest is stronger. She's protecting me. I feel her veil of protection over me like I'm someone important to her. But what catches me off guard the most, is that I can feel a stronger veil of protection underneath hers. It's from someone else.

 _ _Larger, heavier, needing-…..…is my protection an obligation? What did they know?__

Monte is done questioning her and Kandomere is looking over me, clued in to the fact that I'm definitely tuned into something with her.

"Aella.." he says gently "Is she being truthful with what she says?"

Her eyes look over at me, softly. I look at Kandomere, "yes."

"Alright.." he says, after a few seconds of thought. "Oghtha, you're free to go. The SUV out front will drop you back at the club, or wherever you please." He says, showing her to the door.

Monte sits back in his chair, "What a crock of shit." he says, looking straight at me.


	17. Chapter 17

****Chapter 17****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!__ _ _The category 'Bright' is finally working!]]__

I look back at him, confused.

Kandomere isn't phased by his comment. He's rubbing his chin, looking at the floor, deep in thought.

After a few seconds Nick knocks and I can hear his voice through the door, "hey!…if you're done with questioning I need to get Aella back to the hospital."

Monte and Kandomere look at each other and Monte looks at me, unimpressed.

"I've seen a lot of creatures in my day. Fairies, orcs, mermaids, sirens, fucking cop centaurs. But never have I seen someone be able to tap into the emotions of a completely different person. Not without magic. I'm not convinced that there isn't magic involved." Monte says.

I sigh and cross my arms, his cloud of annoyance rubbing against me. "Well I don't know what to tell you. I did was I was asked, and we're done. I'm hungry and tired and was promised dinner, can we go?" I ask, looking at both of them.

Kandomere nods, "yes, let's go" he says, before Monte can get another word out.

He opens the door and holds it open for me, Nick already waiting when it opens.

"There you are. You ready to go?" he asks me, not even paying attention to Kandomere.

"Mmhm" I say grabbing his hand walking out of the small room.

Kandomere walks behind us, all the way to an SUV sitting just outside the front doors. He goes around to the driver and talks to him while Nick helps me into the truck. They nod and Kandomere comes to our door.

"He's going to take you wherever you wish to eat, and then back to the hospital. Thanks again for helping us Aella. I'll see you soon." He says, before closing the door.

After a few minutes Nick looks down at me, thinking. I scoot closer to sit against him and I lean my head on his arm, he lifts it, and pulls me into his chest. His warm body lulls me to sleep without either of us realizing it, until the driver asks where we were going for food.

Nick POV

I look down at Aella waiting for her to answer where she wanted to eat, and all I hear is a light snoring. Her breaths are slow and deep. Not wanting to wake her, I direct the driver to one of Aella's favorite mom & pop burger joints. When she wakes up later, she'll still be hungry.

When we arrive at the hospital, Ward is out front smoking. When he sees that its me getting out, he comes over to help grab the food while I carry Aella back to her room. I wish I could sleep as heavy as she does.

We get her back into her bed without waking her, and right as Ward starts asking about the day, the elf nurse walks in and smiles at us both. She checks Aella and puts back the stickers that monitor her vitals.

After she leaves, I catch Ward up on what happened today while I eat my food. I offer my burger to Ward but he's just finished dinner with his family. For the next hour, he's pacing back and forth, talking out loud going over what happened. Him saying it out loud almost makes it physical for him, so he can "see" it. It helps him figure out what his next move is, or figure out if anything fishy is going on. It's worked for him countless times so I don't stop him. Once he's confident enough that he understands everything that's going on, he goes to stand next to Aella. He looks over her body, and gently picks up one of her arms inspecting her skin.

"Ward, don't wake her.." I tell him.

He slowly puts her arm back down and comes to sit next to me.

"I just want to see how she's doing. You saying her body is changing because of this, and I'm not sure what to think. I mean, how did I get so lucky as to be the only cop in the US who has TWO partners, BOTH of which are not human." he says.

"Ward…" I tell him. I can see that he's probably worrying about his family's safety again, along with his sanity. I clap my hand on his back, "this has nothing to do with you. I promise I wont let any of this get to you or your family, alright? Just…try not to worry. Aella isn't a person that would do anything to lose either of us. You are pretty lucky.." I smile at him.

He nods looking over at Aella.

Suddenly Aella sits up, her eyes wide, staring at the door. Her breaths are quick and ragged, the scent of her fear is ripe. I'm instantly on my feet moving to her. Tears form in her eyes and I grab her hand, "Aella what's wrong…" I ask her. Ward stands up and starts moving towards the bed when a soft knock comes from the door. Ward turns to go answer it and Aella stops him:

"No, no! Don't open it!" she says in a low voice. Ward looks back at her with a confused face.

"What? Why not, who is it?" He asks, lowering his voice as well.

She didn't answer, just shook her head while squeezing my hand. I look at her eyes, they haven't left the door.

"Ward, I wouldn't." I tell him. Another knock from the door, harder the second time.

"And what if it's those magic feds?" Ward says, pulling his gun from the back of his pants.

"I don't think so. Aella wasn't reacting this bad to them earlier." I explain, hoping he doesn't open the door. Realizing that I've never seen her react this way to anyone, I look at her again. Both her hands are holding onto my one and I can feel her trembling. Aella was definitely terrified of whoever was on the other side of that door. Ward puts his free hand on the handle of the door.

"Wait!" I tell him, a loud whisper

He turns to look at me, "Whether it's someone we want to see or not, I'm not staying trapped in this damn room." A third knock comes, just as hard as the second. I quickly move to the foot of Aella's bed, blocking any view of her from the door, and also pull my gun from my boot-pointing it at the ground, but loaded and ready.

I nod at Ward, "go ahead, I'll cover her."

He slowly opens it and we both see a small teenage elf girl, in leggings and a hoody with the hood up. Strands of bright red hair along her face, bright green eyes. Her hand was up to knock again but she lowered her hand back into her hoody pocket. She eyes me, blocking her view of the bed.

"Aella?" she says in a very low whisper. "Where is Aella?"

"Wrong room. Move along" Ward says.

She looks at me, then back to Ward, her eyes big and afraid.

"Tikka told me she was right here. She sent me to find her." She manages to get out.

I'm staring at her because she said Tikka's name.

"Nick. Can I see her?" I hear Aella say behind me.

I turn and look at her, her eyes no longer afraid. She's calmed a bit and she's reaching out for my arm.

"Are you sure?" I ask her, not moving.

"Nick. She's the one afraid. I felt her fear through the door. She's afraid because of you and Ward. Put your guns away, let me see her. She isn't going to hurt me." I look at her for a few seconds, her tone very sincere.

I put my gun away but stay standing in front of her bed. Ward puts his gun away as well but his eyes never leave the girl at the door. He opens the door wider to let her in. She walks in slowly, eyeing both of us still. He closes the door and stays right behind her. She walks towards me and the bed, her hands against her chest. She gets closer to the side of the bed and she finds Aella. I stay at the foot of the bed. If she tries something, I'll be the first one to have my hands on her.

She moves to the bed and reaches her hand out to Aella. She takes her hand gently and she whispers something to Aella. Aella turns her hand over and the girl looks into it, rubbing her fingers over her skin.

"Did you say Tikka sent you here?" I ask her. She nods, but her eyes don't leave Aella's hand.

"Well what did she send you for?"

"To make sure she's getting better" she whispers, then kisses the inside of her hand. "And to watch over her."

"What..no. We can't have you following her around. The feds don't know about you, and you're too close to Tikka. She's safe, trust me. You can tell Tikka that. Look at us, all three of us are cops. You didn't even want to walk in here." I tell her, my mind running.

Aella looks over at me, her eyes calm. She gently says my name, which stuns me so much that I almost forgot what I was trying to say. I watch the little elf run her finger from her hand, slowly up her arm…and what looked like little electric sparks were lighting up under her finger, illuminating Aella's shimmering skin. Aella smiles, looking at her skin. She whispers to Aella, who brings her eyes up to Ward and tells him to turn the lights off. He's standing next to me, in surprise at what he's looking at. He just watched Aella's skin light up, from the finger of an elf. He goes and turns off the lights, wanting to see what else she was about to do. She brings her finger to Aella's eyes and the whole room around us lit up in different colors of greens, pinks, and blues with specks of light floating around, like her very own creation of an aurora. Something in my chest burst and I felt a tug in the direction of Aella. I look down at her and watch as her blue eyes wide in awe, look at the colors surrounding us. The colors made her skin glow and I felt my chest tighten. I wanted so bad to hold her, surround her, protect her, make love to her, show her how to be loved, and give myself to her completely.

The young girl suddenly stops and looks at me…the lights disappear and it's dark again.

Ward goes and turns on the lights and she's still looking at me. This causes Aella to look at me.

"What…what's wrong?" I ask her..looking at both of them.

"I have the same gift as Aella. She can feel what others around her feel. But she is young, her gift needs to grow." She whispers, looking at her and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She continues, "However, I was born like this, and can feel more than just emotions of those around me."

Her eyes move to me. "What you just felt…was you falling in love. For you it is stronger than what humans feel. Most orcs don't mate for life, but few do. Few who have been around humans for enough generations that they adapted to most of their cultures. You, are one of those few." she tells me. I'm stunned into silence, again, my cheeks run hot from her broadcasting what I was currently feeling. She touches my arm, she stays for a few seconds looking at me. I look at Aella, who's eyes are on me, but big with worry. I feel the girl's hand leave my arm and she looks back at Aella cupping her face.

"You don't need to worry love. You are safest with him. I am not needed." she says gently. She steps back from the bed and walks towards the door. She opens the door, smiles at Aella, and disappears as the door closes behind her.

"What….the fuck just happened" Ward says.

I look back at Aella and she's still staring at me, her eyes soft this time. A soft smile curling up her face. I move to her and grab her face in my hands and bring my mouth to hers in one move. Her hand grips my shirt and pulls me closer to her as she returns the kiss.

"uh…..okay. I'm gonna go ahead and head home. To my wife." Ward says behind us.

I don't pay any attention to him. Aella breaks my kiss and smiles at me, putting her hands on mine. I hear the door behind us close and I no longer smell Ward in the room with us.

"You want to know how I already knew you loved me?" She says, smiling still.

"How?" I ask her, confused as to how she ever knew.

She looks around me, to my foldabed chair against the wall: "you brought me my favorite burger"

She laughs, planting a kiss on my bottom lip.


	18. Chapter 18

****Chapter 18****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!__

 _ _This chapter is a bit longer, let me know if you prefer this length, or the shorter ones :)__

 _ _Again, thanks for reading!]]__

Aella POV

I'm awake scrolling on my phone silently while Nick's steady breathing fills the room. He fell asleep on my hospital bed with me, his feet hanging off the end. He refused to take his shoes off, in case someone else came in, he'd be ready. He's weirdly protective of me, although now it makes sense.

Last night the young elf confirmed what I thought I felt from Nick. He had fallen for me.

For humans, that's a bit on the quick side. But he wasn't human. He wasn't going to change his mind several years from now. She also said that I'd be safe with him. I find myself smiling while remembering last night's events. I hear the door open and immediately Nick's arm tightens around me as he wakes, his eyes on the door. The elf nurse peeks her head in and he relaxes. She gracefully walks in like she always does.

She takes my temperature, and checks a few other things. Nick sits up facing the other way, rubbing his face.

"Good news, dear!" she says in her soft voice. "You're going home tonight" she says, smiling.

Nick turns around and looks at her, "Oh Christ, finally."

"Mmhm. There's just some paperwork and tests that we're finalizing , which will take a few hours. So for now, it's a waiting game. Do you want me to bring yall some breakfast? I have an extra breakfast tray on my cart if you want it, Jakoby." She says sweetly.

I tell her to bring both with extra cups of fruit. We'll share the food, although I'll eat most of it since Nick doesn't eat meat but doesn't mind waffles or hash browns.

After breakfast I'm showering alone but Nick is right outside the shower in case I need help.

He helps me dress into some black shimmery leggings with a long loose blouse. While he's putting away my dirty clothes, I'm brushing my wet hair and sitting on the bed. I'm stable enough to be discharged from the hospital but I'm not yet strong enough to stand very long so they've written me to be light duty for a week and come back for a follow up. Showering and dressing had me exhausted already.

I notice that Nick hasn't said a word all morning.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask him, prying to see if I can feel anything from him.

He zips up my bag and comes to sit next to me. He takes the brush from me and starts brushing my hair.

"Look...last night while the elf was showing us your eyes-"

The door opens suddenly, cutting him off.

Kandomere and Monte walk in.

Monte makes a sarcastic "awww" noise when he sees us.

Before Nick can say anything I'm already talking. "If you want my help with any of your cases I suggest you drop this sarcastic bullshit you have towards us. I don't give a shit about your personal opinions of us but a little bit of respect goes a long fucking way."

Right as Monte was forming his mouth for his retort, Kandomere glares at him.

Monte swallows his words.

An excited "Aaaand she's back." comes from behind them, and they turn to reveal Ward standing there with a broad smile across his face, in full deputy uniform. "Yall have fun with that one." he says as he walks between them into the room, holding a cardboard square with two coffees in it. He walks to the bed bringing us the coffees.

"jesus fuck thank you. I was not about to try and drink the nasty bean water that comes from that vending machine." I take a coffee and take a long drink. Monte and Kandomere eyeing us.

"Aella….we have another case that we would appreciate your help with." Kandomere says.

I take a few more drinks from my coffee, thinking. I look over at Nick and he shrugs, "It's up to you. I won't be able to go with you this time though, I've gotta get back to work today. Ward came to get me so I'm leaving my truck here for you whenever you need it. But you know I drive the squad, if you need me just call and w-" I put my finger on his lips, stopping him.

"I know babe. I'll call you if I need you." I look at Kandomere, "Do I get another free dinner tonight?"

He nods and says, "yes, dinner isn't a problem. I've cleared it with the hospital so they know you'll be gone. If anything should happen, they are also ready to keep you longer if need be."

Usually I wouldn't worry about being hurt…but even standing too long is exhausting me. If all I'm doing is listening to people talk, I shouldn't get hurt anyway.

"Alright sure." I tell him.

"There will be an SUV waiting at the front doors, they'll bring you down to our station." he says.

I nod and they leave.

Ward takes a long swig from his coffee staring at Nick.

"so….did yall have a good night?" he says through a smirk.

Nick's goofy ass completely missed it. He starts answering Ward's question.

"I mean I guess, we slept fine between the nurse coming in and o-"

I cut him off again, smiling: "Nick. He's being an ass. Don't answer that. No, Daryl. Nothing happened last night because we're in a hospital."

Nick looks at Ward, confused.

"Yea….right. I know you too well already, Stone." It was almost weird hearing me be called by my last name again. I had gotten used to Nick calling me by Aella.

"Wait, what's that mean?" Nick says, looking between me and Ward.

"Yea. What's that mean, Ward?" I ask him, smiling.

"It means uh…..that I know her well enough to know that when she wants something bad enough, she gets it no matter what. You're gonna realize real soon how much of a blessing and a curse that is…"

I laugh and start fixing my hair into a messy bun, acting like I have no idea what he's talking about.

Nick is legit confused, looking back and forth between us. "What?"

"Nothing babe. I'll explain it later, I promise." I tell him.

"See, she's already starting. But hey, we gotta go, are you gonna get suited up over there?" Ward says to Nick.

"Yea I have a clean uniform there." he says, standing from the bed sliding his shoes on.

He comes over to me and kisses my forehead.

"Call me if you need anything. Stay safe today, okay?" He says, holding my face.

"I promise" I tell him. He drops a quick kiss on my lips and he walks out the door with Ward.

I slip on my boots and head out.

Just under an hour later I'm walking into the same small interrogation room, escorted by one of Kandomere's hands. Monte is holding down a male orcs head on the table while Kandomere asks him questions. There's a few pictures on the table, under his face. I don't care to look at the photos.

I sit in the chair that's at the table. The orc is cuffed twice so I'm not worried about him reaching over and grabbing me.

Kandomere takes a break from talking. He looks at me, waiting for me to focus on the person they're talking to. "Can I look at him?" I ask Monte. He lets his head go, and steps away from the table.

The orc lifts his head, blood dripping from one of his lips from being slammed into the table. His eyes, angry, still on Monte for being rough with him. His eyes move to me. When I feel my chest tighten with anger and pride, I give Kandomere a look and he continues with his questioning.

The orc looking at all three of us, answering the questions with sarcastic remarks. And for every sarcastic remark that didn't answer the question, Monte would punch him or slam his head into the table again. The orc got satisfaction from that. He liked that it would piss them off when he gave a stupid answer. He didn't feel threatened at all. I whisper something to Kandomere. He stops talking for a few seconds and then tells Monte to leave the room. He whispers in my ears the next few questions that he wants to ask him.

I start talking to the orc in my normal voice. Not too perky and fake so it didn't annoy him.

First I ask him his name. He laughs and doesn't answer. I sit and stare at his eyes, looking through him. His smile faded and he started shifting in his seat-getting uncomfortable. He blinked a few times and couldn't break my gaze. He couldn't pull his eyes from mine. "Zovuk." he says, finally blinking and looking at the table.

"Zovuk. That's a pretty cool name actually" I say, shooting a smirk at Kandomere. I feel his growing annoyance and I raise an index finger, signaling for him to just give me a second.

The orc nods, looking at both of us. His tongue playing with the drying blood on his split lip.

"Do you want me to clean that up for you? Probably don't want that getting infected." I ask him.

He shakes his head smiling, "nah I try to break my record every time I come in here." he says in his deep voice.

"awwww. Well I'm sorry to tell you that you won't be breaking that record today." I tell him, sarcastically.

His smile fades and he looks at me. His annoyance is growing. He's about twice as large as a grown human man. He's wider than a door frame, and just over 7ft tall. Of course he didn't mind being slapped around by a tiny human. But he was all brawn and no brain so he isn't going to like to be out-witted.

"Yea. We'll see about that." he says, his voice getting low.

For the next several hours I ask him some of the questions Kandomere had been asking. After my last question he gave another sarcastic reply, smirking at me. I laughed for a few seconds, and then stared at him waiting for an answer. Every time his eyes connected with mine, he got uncomfortable. He tried looking around the room, looking for anything to keep his attention away from me.

Kandomere sighed with impatience, "this is bullshit…"

I grab Kandomere's arm, and he looks down at my hand and then at me like he's surprised I'm touching him. While I'm holding his arm I look over at the orc, and say his name very gently.

"Zovuk" I say, velvety. He looks at me, and his face softens. I ask him the same question again, in the same velvety voice and his eyes are lost in mine and he answers the question without hesitation.

Kandomere freezes and looks at me. He looks at the orc and sees that he's staring at me as if he's in a trance. Kandomere immediately pulls out a pen and notepad from his pocket and starts scribbling.

I ask him the second question and he answers that one smoothly as well.

While he's staring at me I feel waves of tranquility waving over me.

Kandomere whispers again into my ear, but I never break eye contact with the orc.

I ask him one last question and he answers it with no hesitation. Kandomere's hands are on my shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze in celebration. He thanks me, and tells me he's got everything he needs. I break eye contact with the orc and he looks around blinking, shaking his head a bit. He looks back up at me, no longer confused.

"hey what the fuck was that?" he growls, his anger growing.

"That was you cooperating with us" I tell him simply.

He slams the table with his fists as he yells "BULLSHIT!" startling me.

Kandomere opens the door and tells me, "Go. Now."

Without a word, I stand and walk out the door. Before Kandomere closes the door behind us I hear the orc's booming voice yell "Call my fucking lawyer!"

He's walking me down the hall and suddenly he comes to a stop, I can tell he has an idea. And so far, I don't like when Kandomere has ideas.

He puts his hand on my shoulder: "how long are you planning to stay a beat cop?"

"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it. Just kinda move my way up the ladder." I tell him, honestly.

His finger on his lip, he asks: "if I could help you move up the ladder a lot faster and be on our team, would you join us?"

His question throws me off guard completely. I'm silent, thinking of the weight of what he just proposed to me.

"Take a few days and think about it. Let me know what you want to do. With someone like you on our team we would be able to get so much done in this city." He waves over someone in a full SWAT body suit. "Walk her down to the truck. Have the driver take her to get dinner, and then back to the hospital. I'm sure she's ready to sleep in her own bed." he tells him.

A muffled, "sir" came from the mask, along with a nod.

Kandomere looks at me again, "I won't bug you for a few days. Give you some time to think. I hope you choose to join us. It would be a privilege to work with you." he says, and turns and walks down the hall.

I get escorted to the same black SUV and get in. The entire drive was spent thinking about Kandomere's offer.

By the time I'm dropped back off at the hospital, I'm done eating my food.

I go to my room and start gathering what's left of my things. Immediately the nurse elf comes in the room with a packet of papers and a small white paper bag.

She sets everything on the little side table where a lamp was. She comes over to me, doing a quick check on how I'm doing. She finds nothing wrong and smiles at me.

As I'm zipping closed my bag she brings me all the things she walked in with. I sign all the discharge papers and she shows me the white bag she brought.

Inside are lotions, vitamins, and pain medication that I need to use and take for the next few weeks while my body is still in transition. I give her a hug and put on Nick's jacket, the keys to his truck already in his jacket's pocket.

As she slips out the door, she says "that's a good one you got there. Take care of him honey, there aren't very many good people like that anymore."

By the time I arrive at my house, the sun has gone down. I realize how much I've missed my own place. Unlocking the door I'm immediately tackled by Ollie, who must have been out of his mind with worry. He licks all over my face, making high pitched whiny noises.

"i know, I know. I missed you too" I say between laughs. I stand up and go straight to my room. I fall into my bed and Ollie joins me, his tail still wagging out of control.

I realize he's probably starving. I make my way to the kitchen and see that both his bowls are full.

There isn't pee or poop laying about my house, either. There isn't any dirty dishes, there isn't the usual sock or shirt laying in the living room. All of Ollie's toys are stacked in his little bucket by the back door. Someone had obviously cleaned my place.

Since I didn't have anything to do and I had already eaten, Ollie follows me back to my bedroom. My bed was made. I never make my bed. I undress and go into my bathroom for a shower, already feeling exhausted. I run the water for a bath instead, and grab the book from my night stand.

I relax in the hot water and start reading my book, Ollie laying next to the side of the tub.

After an hour, I climb into bed to read after drying off. I didn't even bother to put on clothes, I was tired of sleeping in clothes at the hospital.

I start dozing off when Ollie's head shoots up, ears perked. His bark startles me awake.

"Ollie…hush and go to sleep. No one's at th-" and before I could finish talking, I hear keys hit the floor in my kitchen. Quick heavy steps are coming down the hallway, and I'm just laying defenseless in bed. Ollie's ears are folded back, barking.

When the steps get to my door I reach for my gun in my night stand drawer, rushing.

As I grab it, the door opens behind me. I swing my arm around, gun pointed…and see Nick standing at the side of my bed, arms up, eyes wide in surprise.

"WHOA! Aella what the fuck?!" he says, pushing the gun away from pointing at him.

I drop it and let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Fuck, Nick. You scared the shit out of me!" I tell him, my breaths fast.

I put the gun away back in my night stand and sit up against the headboard rubbing my face. I look over at him and he's just watching me, his eyes looking over my body. That's when I remember, I'm still naked from my bath.

I pull the comforter up to cover me, "Sorry, I just got out of the bath."

He sits on the edge of the bed, looking at me. He grabs my hand and pulls me over to him, pushing the blanket away. He sits me in his lap, bringing my face to his.

"You don't ever need to apologize for being naked around me. Please believe me when I tell you, that you are the most beautiful human I've ever seen. I love your body, please don't think you need to hide it from me because I'm not human." He tells me gently.

I leave a soft kiss on his lips and whisper: "If you want to get laid you better stop acting like a nice guy."

He looks at me, confused. "Wh-...but I thought you lik-….-ice guys" he manages to get out, between me kissing his bottom lip.

I whisper something in his ear and he perks up, looking at me. "Ohh.." he says, finally understanding.

His hands slide under my thighs and he picks me up to rearrange my legs and sit me down on his lap so that I'm straddling him. One arm slides around my waist and he pulls me closer, his eyes roaming all over my body.

He moves my head to the side and starts nipping at my neck, his blunt tusks gently rubbing against my skin. I get goosebumps and he looks down, feeling my nipples harden through his shirt.

His nose is flaring in and out when he looks at me, making sure I'm not in pain or anything. A moan escapes when I feel his shirt rub against my sensitive nipples, causing my hips to grind against him a bit.

"Whoa…" he says, looking down in his lap to where our groins met. His hands slid to my hips and he pulled me down against him as he pushed his hips to grind against me.

He watches my face. Watching as my head tilts back, my jaw dropping open. I feel his crotch harden and grow with each thrust he pushed into me.

Suddenly he lifts me up and tosses me on the bed next to him, leaving me confused and panting.

He walks into the bathroom taking his shirt off. I watch the blue streaks move with the muscles in his back as he leans over and turns the shower on.

"Hey!" I fake yell at him. "You can't just leave me here like this…"

He unbuttons his pants and looks back at me through the door, "oh really?…." he says pushing his pants and boxers down his legs. "Like you left me hanging at the hospital the other day?" he says, smirking at me. He did that on purpose. I forgot what I was talking about, I was focused on him.

I've never seen an orc naked, and definitely not in my bathroom. I'm in awe at seeing his beautiful body. He's got pretty much the same body as a human, but some body parts are larger than humans. Their hands, feet, shoulders, head, and penises. Nick wasn't grossly larger than a human, but very well endowed. Nick's body was very muscular with low body fat. I had no idea he looked like this under his uniform. The blue streaks, or stripes?, that cover his body follow his muscles.

He looks over at me, waiting for the water to get hot. He sees my eyes exploring him, silently.

"uh..you wanna at least take me out to dinner if you're gonna look at me like that?" he says, smiling. It breaks me focus and I feel heat in my cheeks. I stand and walk over to him, forcing him to look at my body-I want to return the tease since he just tossed me onto the bed.

"I'll take you up on that, but first…a shower." I put my arms around his neck and stand on my toes to bring my mouth to his. His hands go around my back to hold me against him. He looks down at me, studying my face.

I run my hand over his shoulder, feeling the difference in his skin texture. It wasn't rough, but definitely thicker and a little tougher than human skin. Except for his lips. His lips are the softest thing about him I've found so far.

He opens the curtain and steps in, pulling me with him into the steam. He stands in the water, but has me against him so the water warms me too. He turns me around, planting kisses on my shoulders and neck. He grabbed the bottles of soap and I put my head under the water to wash my hair.

He squeezed my body wash into his hands and started slowly washing my body, exploring me, studying my curves.

"How is your skin this soft?" He asks, his hand sliding over my belly to my hips.

"I don't know. How is your skin so tough?" I ask him. He stops and looks at me, intently.

His voice low, "does my skin bother you?"

"Nick no, your skin doesn't bother me. My question was rhetorical, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Here, do my back.." I turn around and he's standing behind me now rubbing suds all over my back. I slowly scoot back against him, poking my butt out a little.

"Aella…" I hear him say my name behind me, but the tone wasn't what I wanted it to be. He said my name like I'm in trouble.

"I don't think it's a good idea to do anything yet. You're still healing." he continues.

I turn around, confused: "what does me healing have anything to do with sex?"

His cheeks turn pink and he stammers, "it..uh….I don't want to hurt you…"

I cup his cheek, adoring him. "babe you aren't gonna hurt me."

He nods. "yea…yea I will. I have to be extra gentle with you. You're a human, you're fragile."

 _ _What the fuck?! Fucking FRAGILE?!__

I exit the shower and walk straight back to my room without drying off, pissed.

Nick POV

I watch her walk back to her bedroom and she didn't take her towel with her.

 _ _Did I say something wrong?__

"Aella…" I call to her but she doesn't answer. I finish showering and after drying off I walk out of the bathroom. I'm standing next to the bed looking at my phone when my knee is suddenly kicked out from behind me, bringing me to my knees. Before I could turn around my face is in the carpet, arms pinned behind my head…Aella sitting on top of me, breathing hard.

"I'm not fucking fragile." she says through her teeth, her skin oozing the scent of her anger.

 _ _I upset her by calling her fragile?….I didn't mean it as an insult.__

"Aella…" I try explaining to her, but she stays sitting on my back on top of my arms, silent.

Since she isn't going to listen, I decided to show her.

I lift my arms with her still sitting on them, and gently dump her off. When I feel her slide onto the floor I grab her leg and stand up, pulling her up with me.

I'm standing, holding her off the ground by her leg as she looks at me with an angry face upside down.

I smile and set her on the bed. She's on her feet standing on the bed before I can step away.

She trots off the bed and stands in front of me, chin up.

"I'm not fragile." she says again.

I take her face into my hands. "Aella I don't mean that in a bad way. You're one of the toughest cops I know, even though you are the smallest." She jabs my stomach playfully.

I laugh but continue explaining to her, "Orcs and humans aren't physically made to….go together. Uh..so I have to be gentle with you. It would be very easy to hurt you. Orc women aren't the same as human women. Foreplay for an orc is physically beating the shit out of each other. They're very rough, and I can't be like that with you. That's all I meant by fragile. I never meant to upset you."

She gets on the tip of her toes to kiss me.

She whispers, "I do like it a little bit rough though…" and goes back to kissing me.

I reach down to her ass, and with one hand and lift her off the ground holding her against my body.

Her head above mine now, I look up at her. "Like this?" I ask her.

She's smiling so I guess I fixed it.


	19. Chapter 19

****Chapter 19****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!__ _ _The category 'Bright' is finally working!]]__

-Later that Evening-

I finish up washing the dishes and cleaning the mess from dinner, when I walk back into the living room, where Aella is sitting on the couch playing with Ollie. I sit next to her, amused.

"So I forgot to tell you what Kandomere told me last night…" she says while I'm flipping through Netflix looking for another movie.

"Oh yea? What did he want?"

"I've been thinking about it. And I don't think it's such a bad idea, since you and I are going to be public with our relationship soon. It won't be long before one of us is reassigned…more than likely will be me." she starts.

She breaks my focus from the movie picking. "Wait, what?…..you've been thinking about what?"

"Kandomere wants me to join his team. Work with him."

She's looking at me intently, waiting for my response.

"Aella, that's amazing! I think you should do it. That's a promotion, and a helluva team to be working on. Of course I'll be sad that you won't be my partner anymore…well, one of them….but I think this is a very good opportunity for you!"

She launches herself into my arms, hugging me. I really am happy for her, but a piece of me is worried because I'll no longer be close enough to her to keep an eye on her.

She loosens her hug, and she's looking at my eyes.

"Nick. Why are you worried?" she asks, confused and worried herself.

I shake my head forgetting she can feel what I'm feeling.

"It's not so much that I'm worried. It's just…I won't be close. I won't be there to keep an eye on you. I don't want you getting hur-" I try explaining but she interrupts me.

"Baby I'll be fine. I won't be in the streets nearly as often as beat cops. I'll have an office, and most of my time will be helping Kandomere and Montehugh interrogate people." she tells me, as if she already knew exactly what she'd be doing.

I turn my body so my legs are propped up on the couch, and she moves into my lap straddling me.

I tuck a strip of loose hair behind her ear, "I know that. I know you'll be safer. I just feel better when I'm closer to you."

She brings her smiling lips to mine. I feel her scoot closer, sitting right on my dick. Her kisses get deeper and I pick up on the smell of her lust. Her kisses move to my neck and she lightly starts grinding against me.

"Aella…." I say in my low, warning voice.

The softness of her lips touching my neck gives me chills, and I feel my pants tighten. I hear her whisper between kisses: "please baby…."

I feel her lips move up to my ear, and she runs her warm tongue along the edge causing my hips to react involuntarily.

"Aella, I don't want to hurt you" I tell her, almost breathless.

Trying to keep my composure is hard when she's grinding on me, mouthing my ear.

Her kisses move under my chin, forcing me to tilt my head back.

"You won't." she says and continues planting kisses, moving to my collar bone. I put my hands on her arms and hold her back so she can stop and look at me.

"With you still healing, I will hurt you." She bites her bottom lip, almost as if she's fantasizing about me hurting her. I don't think she understands what I mean…

She slides her hand down between her legs and starts rubbing herself, her breaths getting faster. Her lips are back on my neck, and my hands slide down to her thighs.

"Trust me, I want you so bad right now I could burst…but I-" She didn't let me finish talking before her lips met mine. Now she slides her tongue into my mouth with her kisses. My hands squeeze her thighs and return her deep kisses. Small moans escape her into my mouth and I feel her hand rubbing herself faster.

I can't hold this anymore.

I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder. I hear her giggles from behind me as her hands cup my ass as I walk. I toss her on the bed.

She gets on her knees and pulls her shirt off over her head, leaving her only in a small pair of red panties. I grab her waist and pull her towards me. As she comes in to kiss me, I grab her legs and pull them out from under her, forcing her to land on her back. I pull her legs apart and pull her ass to the edge of the bed.

She's no longer smiling but has her bottom lip in her mouth as she watches my gaze move down her body.

Her legs wrap around my hips and he curls her finger, signaling me to 'come here'.

I shake my head and look down at her panties. My fingers run along the edge of her panties from her thigh to her sex, which is already wet.

 _ _Perhaps I could eat her pussy a bit. Maybe that'll calm her down for a while.__

I slide her panties down her legs and toss them onto the floor as I get to my knees.

Her hand comes to her pussy, her fingers moving her clit around. I slap her hand away. I slide my hands under her thighs and pull her closer to me. I plant kisses on her mound, teasing.

I look up at her, and she's watching me with pleading eyes. One of her hands on her tit.

I slowly slide my tongue up her wet slit and her hips grind against my mouth, as she moans. Her body starts trembling and her hands are squeezing the bed sheets. I stop and watch her for a few seconds.

"please Nick" I hear her small breathless voice, her hips still grinding..looking for me.

Aella POV

His mouth comes back to my pussy, french kissing it. His tongue goes from sliding up and down my slit to circling and massaging it. My hand goes to his head to pull him deeper as I grind against him. His mouth covers my clit and he starts sucking when I feel one of his fingers slowly slide inside me, his deep golden eyes watching me-daring me to move. When he starts moving his fingers in and out in a steady rhythm, I feel the tension building just under my belly.

Nick POV

I'm being extra cautious and gentle so I don't hurt her. Her reactions show me that she's enjoying what I'm doing. Her insides are warm, and wet…and I can't help but imagine what it would feel like to put my dick inside her…however, I only had one finger in her and she's still very tight.

Enjoying her pleasant taste and the the noises coming from her, I'll do this until she's completely exhausted.

Her breaths get shorter and quicker, catching my attention. I notice her hands grabbing onto the sheets. I move my finger faster and focus on her clit. I bend her legs up spreading them further. I remove my fingers and slide my tongue inside her, growling so my tongue vibrates.

I felt her walls tighten on my tongue, and spasm while her body gently convulses through her screams. Now I know what Ward meant when he asked 'if she's a screamer'…..

When her body calms, her hands move to her face. I stand and her hands are on her face, her hair splayed everywhere.

"Aella, you okay?" I ask her. She nods but stays covering her face. I lay down next to her and gently move her hands from her face. Her face and chest are warm and pink, her mouth in a relaxed smile.

The scent coming from her was soft and pleasant. I froze as I realized I know what her happy smells like. I wonder how many other people did.

"I just didn't expect to cum that quickly…so, I'm a bit embarrassed." she says in between breaths.

She curls her legs up and rolls to her side, facing me.

"No need to be embarrassed babe…" I start explaining to her, but she pushes me onto my back and sits on top of me. I realize she saw my erection through my sweats and took advantage.

Her hands plant themselves on my chest and feel her hips grind against my dock.

"Aella…we shouldn't…" I tell her, remembering how tight she is. I grab her hips and start lifting her off when she stops.

"no no no noooo…." Her eyes go back to pleading.

"Aella you don't know what you're asking for" I say, sitting up. I sit her back down in my lap but she sees that I'm getting frustrated.

Her face drops and her eyes move down to my chest.

"Do you not want me?" She says in a low voice.

"What?..Aella why would you ask that?" I ask, taking her face into my hands so she looks up at me.

She hesitates while looking into my eyes as if they're windows into my head. "Because you keep avoiding me. You keep avoiding sex with me. Is it because I'm human?" she says whispering.

A low growl started deep in my chest. "Aella I've known you for a few months now. I've been your partner at work, I almost went after Dorghu over you, I'm about to have to get used to you working with an elf, you watched as I literally fell in love with you, and I just had you for dinner. I think it's safe to say that you being a human doesn't bother me." my voice a little firmer than before.

"Then….what __is it__." she asks, pulling out her big pleading eyes again-I think she's figured out I can't say no to those. My hands move to her lower back

"Baby you….you are really tight. And I'm not complaining at all, but….you have to know that orcs don't share the same size of..." my eyes move down to my cock, that she's still sitting on.

"...and I'm worried I will hurt you. And the thought of hurting you is what's keeping me from tearing into you….." I tell her.

She asked me a question I wasn't prepared for: "So, are we just never going to have sex? Are you going to avoid being naked around me?"

Along with her question, her tone tells me she's getting upset…sad…

"No. I would never hide from you." I sigh. "To be honest, I'm not sure what to do. I've never been with a human woman, sexually." I confess.

She stays looking at me for a few seconds before grabbing my hands and telling me, "Nick, I don't mind guiding you, I'll be fine. The elf nurse said you are one of the few orcs who mate for life, right? So it looks like this is going to happen sooner or later because I want to be with you. I'm too old to date for fun, and I'm not the kind of person to break someone's heart, especially if they're a decent person. And you're not decent, you're fucking amazing. You're not even human and I fell in lov-….with you" she said, her words stumbling at the end. Her eyes blinking quickly, cheeks flushing with pink again.

Although we both knew how I felt about her, I wasn't expecting her to feel the same, especially this soon. Human women have never shown any interest in me, unless they were prostitutes. I caught the scent of her being nervous. I grab her chin and bring her mouth to mine. I feel her body relax as she kisses me deeper. She breaks the kiss slowly and looks at me for a few seconds, her hand on my cheek. She gets up from my lap and walks into her closet. I hear her shuffling around for a few minutes before she calls out: "don't get up…I'll be right back."

"What are you getting?" I ask her.

She emerges with a small black box, still sealed. "Here. This is what we use when our partner is…blessed." she says, a smirk on her face as she glances at my dick and back up at me.

"What's this?" she puts it in my hand as she sits on the bed next to me. It's a bottle of lubricant.

I look over at her, "will this work?"

She smiles, and climbs back into my lap facing me.

She links her hands together behind my neck and starts kissing me again, gently grinding her hips.

She takes the box from my hand and starts opening it. I hear my cell phone ringing from the living room where I left it. I set her aside and she continues opening the box while I walk to go get my phone.

The name on the display says DARYL WARD.

"Yea?" I ask when I answer it.

"Jakoby, I just heard over the radio that someone reported a robbery just now at your house. I'm on my way there now, I hope you aren't too far away…." the call ended.


	20. Chapter 20

****Chapter 20****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!]]__

I immediately start grabbing my things, and sliding my feet into my boots. She comes around the corner stark naked, stopping when she sees me.

"Nick what's going on…" her tone serious.

"Ward just called me, my house was robbed. I'll be back…" as I throw on my jacket with no shirt walking to the door.

"I'll meet you there!" she yelled, already running back into her bedroom.

I stop in my tracks, and walk back a few steps: "Aella stay here! I don't want you there in case they return or find them. I'll be back later.." I leave the house, locking the door.

10 minutes later I pull up to my house and see Ward's car and one other squad car in my driveway, ward's car halfway onto my lawn. I drive over the curb and park in the middle of the grass. I hop out of the truck, leaving it running. I run inside and see Ward in regular clothes, and two other cops in uniform walking around the house. My front door was kicked in..when I stepped through the door, glass crunched under my boot. Ward and the officers both looked up at me, surprised at first. They walk over to me and Ward has his gun drawn. My house is completely trashed. A huge mess made by the destruction of my furniture and things.

"Hey, I'm glad you weren't here when they broke in. They probably would have killed you. Look.."

He says, and points to the wall. In thin, red finger smears says: 'ORC FUCK' with bullet holes around it-in the middle of my wall, where my TV used to be.

"We're gonna find whoever did this." He says, clapping his hand on my back. I look around and start to notice the rest of the damage. Lamps broken, Tv gone, coffee table shattered. The lights were still on, so they didn't cut any power. It was a quick job. But why the wall writing?

 _ _It's red. That's human blood…__ I realize as I get a closer look and catch the smell.

"Ward. This is human blood…" He comes over and looks closer. Suddenly we hear footsteps running up to the house. We stand and he points his gun at the door just as Aella trots inside.

"WHOA!" she yells, throwing her hands up. Ward immediately puts his gun down and I go over to her.

"Aella I said stay home, I don't want you mixed into this" I tell her as I see her eyes moving around the room, finding the blood on the wall.

"You were at her house?" he looks at his watch, then back up at me.

"Yes, fuck…Ward you know we're together, can we move along and figure out who's responsible for this?" I look at Aella, and she's looking at the other two cops in uniform, who are looking at her. I had completely forgotten that there were other cops in here.

"Stone?" asks one of the cops.

She sighs. "Yea, what's up Mick…" I pick up the disinterest in her tone. "It would be you that responds to this call. I see they paired you with Gordon…" the other cop looks at her when he hears his name.

".…what the hell am I missing?" Ward says, almost reading my mind.

She looks at us, her arms crossed. "Idiot on the left is Mick. He was my partner before getting transferred over to you guys. Rookie on the right, is Gordon."

You can see the exact moment they realize what's going on, and they put their guns away.

"Wait, which one is your partner?" Mick asks her.

"Both of them. Special assignment." She says, still looking around my house at the damage.

"So, Jakoby, the orc cop… is your partner AND you're dating him?" Gordon asks, Mick looking back at him quickly with wide eyes. Suddenly Aella is in his face.

"Is that a problem?" she asks, her voice low.

Mick puts his hands up, "Hey, dude is new…he doesn't know you yet. He doesn't deserve to have his ass kicked tonight."

Gordon looks from Aella to Mick and back, confused.

Mick is shaking his head at Gordon, "Dude, just don't. Not tonight, not with Stone."

"Nah, let __him__ figure that out." She says. I can smell her adrenaline picking up.

I start moving towards her, "Aella…"

She turns to look at me, her face is different. It isn't the tender face I was looking at earlier. Now her face is firm. She gives him one last look and turns and walks back towards me.

"Y'all can go now, we got this" Ward says to the cops.

They walk out, not saying anything. She ignores them and starts picking up some pictures. When their squad car drives off, she sighs and says "Great. He was the LAST person I was expecting to run into. Apparently you live in my old jurisdiction." She says, looking up at me. She knelt down, gently turning over pictures that had been knocked off the wall.

"Yea but what did he mean when he told the other guy that he doesn't know you well enough?" I ask her, confused. They obviously knew her before I had, so they know a little more about her than I do.

Ward chuckles, "Nick…Aella was one of the toughest cops at her previous station. Why do you think SHE was the one chosen to be attached to our stubborn asses over here in one of the worst neighborhoods? She's not afraid to tell you how it is. Do you not remember her pretty much telling that magic fed to fuck off?"

It all makes sense now. Why she looked forward to dangerous calls, why she got upset at being called fragile. I scoff at the irony of her having the blood of a fairy, a very fragile creature, running through her veins.

"Yea yea, tell my life story then. Yall act like I've been a timid little mouse while I've been here. Nick get your essentials, you might as well move in with me until you can get all this shit together. Wouldn't make a difference anyway." She says, picking up a lamp.

Ward smiles and I shake my head at him, ignoring his suggestive looks.

I walk back towards my bedroom and look around for what's damaged or destroyed. It looks like they kept their focus on the living room and dining room. I start stuffing my large duffle bag with clothes and my bathing essentials. I grab my safe from my closet and walk towards the living room, hands full.

Aella is carrying a bag of stuff from the fridge.

"I think I have a roll of tape in my car, I'll tape the front door up." Ward says.

"I'll call Dorghu, see if he could have someone come put a door up for me tonight. I don't want someone just strolling into my house." Pulling my phone from my pocket.

Aella nods, agreeing with my idea.

An hour later I pull into Aella's driveway, parking my truck behind her car. When we get inside, she's half asleep and dragging herself to her bedroom. Ollie follows her while I set down my bag, safe, and remove my boots by the door. I go around and make sure all the windows and doors are locked, and turn off the lights and TV. I probably won't get much sleep tonight.

I get to her bedroom and the light is on. She's laying sideways on her bed asleep, clothes and shoes still on. Ollie is laying on the floor under her feet, and his head perks up when I walk in the room. I pick up Aella bride-style and walk around to the other side of the bed. I lay her down on her pillow and remove her shoes and pants. While tucking her under the comforter, I notice the bottle of lubricant roll off the bed.

 _ _Oh man that's why she was in a bad mood earlier…__

I go to the side of the bed where I'll sleep and take off my shirt and pants before switching off the lights. I lay under the covers and Aella rolls and scoots against me, her head going into the nook connecting my shoulder to my chest. Immediately her breaths are deep and long again.

The next morning

I wake to my phone beeping. I look at the screen and I see a text message from Dorghu that was sent maybe 40 minutes after we got to Aella's place last night:

'Door is up and solid. Come by later for the key.' I toss the phone on the bed realizing Aella wasn't next to me…the house is silent.

I walk down the hallway and pinch the bridge of my nose at a growing headache. As I make my way into the kitchen I notice Ollie laying in his bed next to the door that leads to the laundry room and garage…which tells me Aella isn't home. Ollie had several beds, Aella loved Ollie very much, and she took damn good care of him. A bed by each door: front, back, laundry/garage door. He was welcome to sleep on the bed or couch, but most times chose by her feet unless she wasn't around.

With today being my off day, it's also Aella's off day. I go get my phone after starting a pot of coffee.

I walk into the bathroom to wash up and there's a piece of paper on the mirror.

 _ _KANDOMERE CALLED, NEEDS MY HELP ON A CASE__

 _ _SHOULDN'T BE GONE LONG, I'LL BRING FOOD__

 _ _She didn't get very much sleep, and he must have called her early, my watch saying 10:07.__

I send her a text to check on her.

Ollie lays in his bed, one big solid black mound on a fluffy gray bed. His ears perked up, eyes following me as I walk around the kitchen making breakfast. I completely forgot that Aella grabbed things from my fridge. She knows I don't eat meat. I sit eating a bowl of oatmeal and fruit scrolling through my phone catching up on news.

One of the biggest stories from last night is that a dangerous gang of orcs, not the fogteeth, are building their ranks so they're sending young orcs to do their dirty work for initiations. I let the video play so I can listen to it while I clean my breakfast mess. When I hear the video say that one of the leaders is in custody with the Magic Task Force, I pick up my phone immediately and see a shaky video recording of Montehugh pushing an arrested orc into the back of their car.

I recognized that orc, and immediately call Aella.

She doesn't answer her phone so I immediately go into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Ollie is following me, tail wagging. I put on jeans, a t shirt, and my boots and as I get to the door, I notice the pair of keys hanging on the wall are not mine, but Aella's.

I look out the door and my truck is gone, but Aella's car is still sitting there.

 _ _Maybe I shouldn't have parked behind her…__

I take her keys, lock the door, and head to Kandomere's station.

-At Kandomere's station-

Aella POV

Standing in the observing room, Kandomere is pacing the interrogation room with a folder Montehugh sitting in the chair across the table. Two other SWAT men, or as I call them: 'Kandomere's Hands', are in the room, in the corner.

He hesitated to bring me in on this one. Wanted to see if I could feel him through the observing window.

At the table sits a very large orc. His hands don't have cuffs on them, his wrists are bound by iron shackles and they're chained to a metal bar under his side of the table.

He hasn't answered a single question and just stares at Kandomere with disgust and rage.

I don't see Monte with as much enthusiasm to slam faces today. I try and focus on the big guy's eyes and reach for what he's feeling. I'm not picking anything up, and I can't hear Kandomere's questions clearly. I exit the observation room and knock on the door to the other room. After several seconds, Kandomer opens the door and when he sees me, immediately comes through the door shutting it behind him. "Stone….you cannot be in the same room as this guy, it's why I had you in the other room." He tells me. I notice his voice isn't as firm as I had expected it to be.

"I can't feel anything from him in that room. Isn't this a big case for you? Let me help on this, please." I tell him. I don't know exactly who the guy is or what gang he was even with. But I see the fearful faces on people when they see him.

He shakes his head. "No. I can't let you in here for this one. If you can't feel anything from this guy then we'll figure out another method but I'm not gonna risk it by letting you in here." he says, his mind made up.

"Who is this guy and what has he done so bad that you don't want me in there?" I ask him.

He leads me back into the observing room and looks at the orc throught the double-mirror.

"Look at him." He says, but im focused on Kandomere. He's radiating with nervousness and excitement. He starts explaining who the guy was ….his words pull me from my thoughts.

"That, is Rozoth Red. I've been after him for more than 15 years. He's been incarcerated before for murder…but he made bail and he's never stopped. Up until this morning, he's figured out how to stay hidden. See those dots that go from his head, down his neck, and now going down his arm? Those are tiny roses. Tattooed on him every single time he's had a successful kill. He is a bright. He owns a wand that is impossible to find, and it's what he uses to put these women under his spell. He tortures them, rapes them, and then kills them. He's gotten ahold of kids too, Aella. We haven't figured out how he gets to his victims yet, he wears an electric ankle bracelet that would shock him if he went outside his radius. This guy is not someone I want you near, even if he's in a goddamn cage." I'm looking at his eyes now, wondering what kind of monster, regardless of race, would do something as vile as harming children. The orc's eyes suddenly meet mine, through the window.

"Can he see me?" I ask Kandomere, who turns and sees the orc looking at me.

"No. No one can see through the mirror from that side."

The orc's mouth formes and evil smile, showing his teeth. Monte turns around to see what he's looking at but all he sees is the black window with their reflections.

I can see Monte telling him something but I can't hear what it is.

An idea went off in my head.

"What if we put him somewhere he can't move…but can still talk?" I ask him. Kandomere's body sags a bit, not wanting to argue with me.

"Like what?" he says, casually, sarcastically.

"You mean to tell me that you, the Magic Task force, have nothing at all that you can use to help restrain him but still allow him to talk?" I ask, not believing for a second that he doesn't have anything.

His eyes move around the floor, thinking. A hard knock comes from the door. He goes to open it and Nick is standing there, eyes full of worry.

"Good morning officer Jakoby, we are-" he starts but Nick cuts him off, walking past him into the room.

"Aella, hey." he says,full of relief. "I didn't hear you leave this morning and I saw that he called you in…and then I saw on the news who they brought in…" his eyes looking through the glass at the orc in the interrogation room."

"Is there something you need, officer Jakoby? We are in the middle of a case.." Kandomere says, annoyed.

He walks over to Kandomere, "yea, you gotta keep Aella out of that room."

Kandomere raises a hand, "I completely agree. Since she's been here this morning she hasn't gone near him. We are not allowing her to observe him up close like with other cases. He is extremely dangerous, and I'm not letting her near him."

Nick nods to him, "Yea I understand that, it's not you im worried about." he says, and his eyes move to me.

"...it's her. I know her well enough to know that she'd find a way to be near him."

"What?!" I ask, confused.

"Aella…" Nick walks to me. "..you love a challenge, you love to help people, and you love to put evil motherfuckers away. That asshole is all of those rolled into one, and I had to come make sure you don't get near him. He is very bad news." He says, his worry back into his eyes.

I look back through the window at the orc at the table. He's staring at Monte, completely unphased.

 _ _Something must have happened for him to be as broken as he is. He doesn't deserve a lick of mercy, but I need a way in. I need to make sure this asshole goes away for good.__

"Kandomere. Do you want this asshole to swindle you and end up back on the streets? Because he's done it before, and he'll do it again. Put him in an electric chair with the swtich ready to go. It wont kill him, but it will stun him enough to mildly sedate him." I tell him.

He was about to object, when I finish: "We can do that tonight. For now, let me do some research on him, ask around, talk to my people. Let me find out what makes this guy tick. Then, I'll be there to feel for anything when he's restrained. He won't be able to afford silence."

Kandomere is thinking, his hand rubbing his chin.

"I'm not sure if we'd be allowed to do that. It violates his rights, and his lawy-" He says, but I cut him off. I walk to him and stand in front of him, my voice louder.

"Do you really think there is a lawyer stupid enough to represent HIM?! He's been charged with murder before, how is he even out walking around? Do you think he gave a fuck about the rights and feelings of the people he murdered?" Nick comes to me, and puts his arm around my waist to calm me.

"Who bailed him out? How does he keep getting ahold of women and children if he's got a goddamn ankle bracelet on? Who does his tattoos? How does he make sure his prospects have done their job? Someone is talking to him. Someone is close to him. That's what I need to find. And when I find them, he'll start answering your questions." I walk out of the room, pulling NIck along. His apologetic eyes move to Kandomere, who is deep in thought and consideration from what I said. Before we left the station I grabbed a copy of the orc's file and took it with me.

As we walk out of the station Nick stops walking, forcing me to stop and look at him.

"Aella. I don't want you close to this guy. He is very dangerous." he pleads.

As I walk up to him to expxlain why I need to do this, I notice a few beat cops leaning against their car about 40 feet away. They're looking over at us, smiling and talking amongst each other.

"Nick let's just go home." I tell him, tossing him the keys to his truck. He hands me my car keys and I tuck the folder under my arm.

I hold my hand out to him and we walk back to the lot, to our cars: hand in hand, fingers laced.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter ** **21****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!]]__

-Later that evening

Aella POV

At home I'm sitting at the kitchen table with papers spread out everywhere, and a tall cup of coffee in my hand. On the end of the counter near the coffee pot is a small flat tv screen. I have it on for background noise while piecing together the puzzle in front of me. Nick was showering for the night. Ollie laying at my feet. Between making notes and googling information on my phone, I didn't hear Nick walk up behind me. His hands came to my neck and I spun around with my elbow out so it caught him in the face. My pencil in my hand ready for stabbing, and then I realize it's Nick.

 _ _Oh fuck!__

 _ _Nick POV__

"AHH! ….Fuck Aella what the hell was that?" I yell, stumbling sideways. I stand, prodding my cheek.

She jumps off the chair and comes to me, getting on her toes to kiss my cheek where her elbow connected.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry.." she said between kisses. "I didn't hear you! I was focused on this shit and your hands went to my neck and it didn't mix well.

I turned to her, catching her lips on mine, instead of my cheek.

"Hey, it's okay. It didn't really hurt…surprised me more than anything else." I chuckle.

She continues kissing me, with a sad whiny noise coming from her throat. I look down at her, confused.

"What's wrong, what have you put together so far?" I ask her, and she walks to the table and crosses her arms, sighing.

"This…it's so much. This guy has so many connections. They don't make any sense at all with the women or children who get reported missing until the bodies are found and an autopsy is done. The only thing linking his victims is the specific way he kills them. Thing is, he's never left his house since his release 3 years ago. Who's bringing him his victims? Where is he getting his income from to keep up with his fucking mansion? And again, who the hell is tattooing him?" she says, her frustration building. She turns to me with a slightly confused tone, "And why do I feel like I'm the only one asking these questions?"

I hug her from behind and kiss the top of her head.

"Maybe this will be a good fit for you afterall. You see connections and potential further than those experienced federal agents, and that's gotta account for something. And your gift of being able to feel their emotions? That's gold. You're fucking smart and tough as a bee. They'll soon see how special you are, especially if you're the major badge behind this bust."

She turns around to look at me, her eyes soft.  
"That's the nicest fucking thing anyone has ever told me." She says with a small smile. "Maybe I'll be like you and get blooded!" she laughs…and suddenly freezes, looking up at me for a few seconds.

She runs back to the table with the papers, foraging for something. She finds one, and holds it up. She turns back to look at me…

"What's this?" I ask her.

She walks over holding a picture. It's a blurry photo of a street in a rough part of town. Several people are crossing the street, a car is turning. I'm not sure what to focus on.

"uh….what am I looking for in here.."I ask her. She looks at the photo, and points to a spot on the right. I take a closer look and I see a younger kid talking to an adult that's wearing orange and black.

"Okay…" I say, more as a question than an understanding.

She says, still pointing: "look, that's a foogteeth jersey." She looks back at me, expectantly.

I nod at her, still waiting for her explanation.

"Babe. Fogteeth is Dorghu's shit. Dorghu knows every single person and errand boy that is connected to any of his soldiers and runners. If anyone in the city wearing orange and black is talking to someone, Dorghu knows about it, and he knows who it is. YOU have a connection with Dorghu. You can call him and see who the fuck that soldier is talking to. I've seen this little boy in other surveillance photos leading back to Red." she says, going back to the table looking at the photo again.

I pull my phone out of my pocket immediately, reminding her that she's a genius.

An hour later I get off the phone with Dorghu. We've put together a plan that I think Aella would support. I look at my watch and see that it's past 10pm. The papers are still spread around the table, but she's not in the dining area. I turn the light off and make my way to the bedroom. As I walk in, i see her laying on the bed in a t-shirt and shorts. She stirs from hearing me come in.

"Heyyy…" she says with a sleepy smile.

"Hey love. Dorghu and I hatched a plan and I think you'll like it." I stand next to the bed, looking at her. She nods and grabs my shirt, pulling me into the bed with her.

"Good, because I haven't heard back from Kandomere so I wont hold my breath about getting to quesion that orc." She says.

She sees my face change, but before I could say anything she pulls me down and catches my lips. I return her kissing and pull her body closer to mine. I feel her hand slide to the bulge in my pants, movin her hand up and down with gentle pressure.

My breath catches in my throat and I have my hand over hers, contemplating stopping her.

She looks at me with those big round curious eyes.

 _ _That's her silent way of saying 'please'.__

I feel a low growl building in my chest and her hand speeds up and finds a rhythm.

"Baby you've taken care of me. I want to do the same for you. And I want you" she says, while her eyes move down my body.

I hold her hand still for a second. "Aella, is it normal for a human to be so sexually hungry like you are?"

She laughed hard at my question and I didn't understand why. She then explained herself, not a bit apologetic. However, the guys at work have said that having a woman who wants sex all the time is both a blessing and a curse.

 _ _Is THAT what Ward meant?__

Her mouth moves to my neck and she continues rubbing my cock through my jeans. My cock grows, making my pants tight.

I groan out of the pressure of jeans suppressing my growing erection. But I know if I remove my jeans, Aella will take advantage.

 _ _I wish she'd wait just one more week…don't fuck it up and ruin her surprise!__

I hear small moans coming from her mouth as she kisses my neck. She stops rubbing my cock and she sits on it. After adjusting herself, she starts grinding on me and continues licking an nipping at my neck.

"Let me give you head. It will give me the chance to know what I'll be getting myself into, and I want to hear you moan." She whispers.

The image of her mouth on my cock caused spurts of electricity to shoot straight to my cock.

I didn't even have to say anything, I knew she was in tune with what im feeling.

She plants a kiss on my lips and moves down, getting on her knees between my legs. She works on unbuttoning and removing my pants. I help her get my pants off, but I hesitate at my boxers.

I'm suddenly nervous and she looks up immediately.

"Don't be nervous baby, it's just me." She whispers.

 _ _Easier said than done. I might be about to ruin your life..__

I let go of my boxers and she looks at me, waiting for me.

"If you don't want to do this, I won't push." She says in a gentle voice.

I sigh, "Nah. I'm just not used to someone being SO interested in me. Actually WANTING me. Believe me, I don't have a problem with it…I'm still adjusting. You're intense." I smile at her.

She sits back on her legs, focused on me: "Should I back off a bit?"

 _ _Logically, my answer should be yes….but the thought of her NOT being intense would be terrifying.__

"Oh, God no. I didn't mean that as if it made me uncomfortable." I chuckle at her, causing her to smile. "Don't mind me, I'm still a bit new to this. When you and I are ready to finally make love like I want to, it isn't going to be while you're stressed out or working on a case."

She looks at me confused, "well what else would I be doing?"

"Wouldn't you rather do that at the end of a slow, lazy, relaxing, rainy day?" I ask her.

She freezes, looking at me in disbelief.

"Um, hell YES?" she says.

I nod, "yea see, I know. I know what you like and what you deserve. Trust me, be patient with me and it will be so worth it.

She shakes her head, a smile on her face. "Where did you come from, Nick?"

I'm a bit confused by her random question but as soon as I start to answer it, she laughs.

"It was rhetorical, you aren't supposed to answer that you boob." she laughs. Suddenly her face drops and she's instantly serious. "Now take off your boxers."

"Excuse me…" I say, not serious. "…But do you have a warrant? I can't let you in without a warrant…."

Her head tilts to the side a bit, her eyes squinting. She crawls up until she's over me, her loose hair falling over our heads like a natural curtain hiding us.

"Okay. You want a warrant?…Here, I've got your warrant."  
She sits up so her ass is in my lap. She pulls her shirt off over her head, revealing her tits.

Her hands slowly roam her body, her eyes closed. She gently massages her tits with her hands, her head tilted to the side. Her hair falls over her shoulders and her mouth gently falls open as her head tilts back. She starts to grind on me, moaning.

I feel my pants tighten rapidly, the room suddenly warm.

My hands find her hips and shes rocking in steady movements, her moaning getting a little louder.

She moans my name and grabs my hand. She slides it up her body to her thoat..then her face and she slides my thumb in her mouth and sucks it.

This is the best tease I've ever seen. She definitely knows how to get what she wants.

Her moans go from fake and teasing to real moans when she feels my cock completely hard under her. Her grinding becoming more intentional, her moans genuine. The hand still on her hip pulls her down against me, my other hand goes to her throat to hold her still as I push up and grind against her. I slide my hand down from her throat to her chest..gently palming her tits.

My phone rings…

Before I could reach over to turn it off, she grabs my hand.

"Answer that phone and I will fuck your life up." She says, not missing a beat. I freeze, staring at her.

She has no idea how close she is to convincing me to make her surprise plan Z, while plan A through B is me tearing that ass up like she wants right here on this little ass bed.

I slide my hand to the back of her neck and bring her mouth to mine, resuming my grind against her while my phone keeps ringing. She breaks the kiss and moves down between my legs again. I help her slide my boxers off and I catch her brief moment of awe before she brings her lips to my swollen tip, no doubt, no hesitation.

After a few kisses she parts her lips with my cock, sliding her mouth down as far as she could before I completely filled her mouth. I release a combined growl and moan feeling her hot mouth around my cock. I slide my hand into her hair, and she gets about halfway and comes back up for a breath. As she bobs her mouth up and down, her hands are sliding up and down the rest of my shaft. Her mouth is warmer and wetter than I expected, and I'm overwhelmed at how amazing it feels.

I grab her hair and guide her mouth, gently thrusting into her mouth. She's moaning and I can smell her wet sex.

"Bring that pussy to me" I tell her.

She sits up and turns her body, swinging her leg over my chest so her pussy is in my face. I wrap my arms around her thighs and pull her pussy to my mouth. I admire how delicious she looks and her mouth is bobbing my cock again. I french kiss her pussy and push my tongue in as deep as I could.

Her muffled moan almost sounds whiny, like she's begging. I start sucking her and focus on the warm slick sides of her mouth moving up..and down…her tongue swirling around when she's at the tip.

I feel a growl building in my belly and it's starting to crawl south. She starts sucking while bobbing her head and I can't focus on eating her because of how fucking good her mouth feels. I push a finger in and move it around in her, while my thumb massages her clit. She grinds against my finger and she's suddenly very wet, her grinds getting harder and faster. I imagine being inside her and if it could possibly feel better than her mouth. I feel a tug….

"Aella, I'm gonna cum" I tell her, exhaling a breath I didn't know I was holding. I get my hand out of her hair so she can lift her head…but she doesn't. She stays, still grinding even though my hands are now gripping her thighs

She bobs faster and tightens her hand a little. "Fuck.…I'm coming" I feel the tug in my balls and her hand coddles them while still sucking me. She pushes deeper and I feel myself coming into the back of her mouth, her throat vibrating from her moans.

I finally release my breath in pleasure, sounding more like a growl than a moan.

I see her pussy shiny with juices. I shove my middle finger into her and curl my finger down over and over quickly until I feel her walls pulse around my finger, suddenly very gushy. Her head lays on my thigh, as sher legs gently convulse and melt over me as she screams in pleasure. After several more seconds she calms and her body relaxes. She's laying down completely now, body on top of mine. We both just lay there, catching our breaths. The only things I hear is her breathing, and rain hitting the windows. I look down at Aella and her eyes are closed.

"Babe…." I say softly

"Hm?" she says, her eyes looking at me, sleepy.

"Did I hurt you?" My hand slides over her cute little curve of her ass.

She shakes her head and closes her again, smiling.

"Okay I need something to drink." She responds by rolling off my leg and curling up with the blankets.

I slide my boxers back on and walk down the hall to the kitchen, Ollie walking with me.

As I walk back into her room with a bottle of water, a thought crossed my mind. More of a realization.

Humans didn't have to say anything for me to know what they were thinking. Their faces and actions tell all. Aella didn't hesitate at all earlier. She didn't think about out.

She sits up, eyes blinking slowly from being heavy: "What's wrong Nick?" she says, asleep also on her voice. She reaches for the water and I hand it to her.

"Nothing I just…I realized something. You don't look at me like I'm an animal. You don't treat me like a lesser person, or some inferior creature. You don't ask stereotypical questions. You don't mock my personality or abilities as an orc, or a cop." I explain to her.

She comes up to breathe after drinking a third of the bottle, answering my question.  
"Well, no shit. I'm not an asshole." she says, laughing.

"Yea I know. It's just refreshing. It's so much easier to be myself around you." I tell her.

I sit on the bed and she flops over onto the mound of pillows, cuddling herself into them.

I switch off the lamp next to her bed. By the time I lay next to her and pull her against me, she's sound asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

****Chapter 22****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!]]__

I wake to Aella's phone ringing. The sun is starting to come up. She's still asleep, on her side facing me, her leg thrown over my legs.

When it stops ringing I gently move her leg and go to the restroom. As I'm walking back to the room, her phone rings again. I look at her phone and it says 'Kandomere'. I immediately start waking up Aella.

Gently shaking her, "Aella…Aella wake up, Kandomere is calling."

Her eyes part just a bit and she blinks a few times as it stops ringing, a bleep showing that he's called several times.

"Kandomere has been calling you." I tell her. She shakes her head and rolls over.

"Babe, come on. You know you gotta answer him." I say, sliding my hand up and down her back.

She sighs and sits up, stretching and yawning.

I stand, tossing her phone by her side. "I'll go make us some coffee. If he calls back…..answer it." I tell her. She sticks her tongue at me and she walks into the bathroom.

-An hour later

We're in my truck heading to the police station. Aella rode with me because Kandomere is at our station rather than his own, and I'm on duty today. He called again and had told her that he was going to be getting evidence and records before heading back to his station and he wanted her help. He also told her to dress in regular clothes, not her uniform even though today was her first day to report back to duty from her time in the hospital.

I park the truck when we arrive, and Aella starts to exit the truck but stops and sees me hesitating.

"Everything okay?" She asks.

No reason to try and play it off, she already knows that I'm nervous. But I nod anyway, to convince her..and maybe myself..that I'm fine.

"Yea…I just…I know you're still working on that case." I tell her.

"Babe. I didn't get into this job to be cozy. That sadistic fuck in there needs to be put away. Now if there's any bit of me that can help, I'm gonna do it." She says, not budging.

"I know, I know. I'm not saying get off the case. But please…PLEASE…just be careful?" I ask, realizing that's all I could ask. I managed to fall in love with the most determined person in LA.

She nods, a half smile crawling up her cheek.

We walk in the station together but we wave goodbye and go in separate directions.

Aella POV

I go to the main desk and pick up the laminated pass that Kandomere had waiting for me. He sent me instructions on where to go. He's teamed up with the intelligence department downstairs on the restricted floor. I go downstairs and see two cage doors. There's a single metal panel with a little red button, a camera in the ceiling above me. I show my badge and after a few seconds, the door unlatches with a buzz. Inside the second door is a little room, with a double-mirror looking out at the metal doors I'm standing between. When I push the red button on the second door, a large cop comes out of the little room. He opens the door for me, showing me why he's the one guarding this door. You'd have to be his size to pull it open because of its weight.

He escorts me down a few halls passing doors that had only numbers on them. He stops at one that says 07 and he opens it. Inside is a large room, with individual desks spaced out. A whiteboard at the end of the room, pictures of orcs and humans posted on it, words written under them. Next to the whiteboard is a room with a shut door. You can hear two men shouting coming from the room, getting louder as we approach. He stops in front of the door, putting his arm out-stopping me too.

He knocks on the door and the shouting from inside stops.

The blinds covering the door's window bend as someone looks out, but I can't see who it is.

An older guy who I haven't met opens the door. He nods his head sideways, signaling me to come in.

"In here." He says. I walk in and see Kandomere pacing on the other side of the room, arms crossed.

He shuts the door behind me, and says "have a seat." in a firm low voice.

I sit and Kandomere isn't saying a word, just watching me. The guy sits at the desk, just when I notice his desk plaque say Sergeant Russo.

He sits at his desk, flipping through some papers in a folder. He stops at a page, reading a few sentences silently.

"Kandomere tells me that you have…gifts. Gifts that will help us finally get this asshole off the street.." he says, looking up at me. I already knew who he was talking about.

I nod, "Any way I can help, I'm all for it." He nods, watching me, contemplating.

I reach, but don't feel anything, however I can still feel Kandomere's anger from here.

"Here's the deal…" he starts. "The guy we're after, isn't just some joe off the street. He's dangerous, hard to fucking charge, and he doesn't feel bad for anything he does. Kandomere also told me about this idea you had, but I gotta tell ya, I'm not convinced that this will work at all. Why should I put you in front of this guy for any reason? As soon as he sees you, he's going to pin you as his next target. And that, I won't let happen."

I sigh, nodding. "I understand. But if I may, Sarge, I just want to help get this guy off the streets. I'm more than capable enough of handling myself should anything happen. I mean, if he's that terrible then why don't we cover his eyes? That way he doesn't see me." I reply, hoping he gives me a chance.

"She'll be safe. She's dating one of the cops upstairs…" Kandomere says as he looks at a picture on the wall. "The orc." he says, as he turns to look at me.

Sarge nods, his eyes looking into me. "I like you Stone. You can stay. For now." He stands and starts walking to the door, my cue that I'm excused. I stand and walk towards the door after him. Before he opens it, his hand on the knob…he says: "Prove them wrong, Stone. Help us catch this asshole and I'll put in a word upstairs about you joining his team permanently. If not, you're welcome in Intelligence." I nod, and he opens the door. I exit and the big guy that dropped me off is still here. He starts walking and I follow him all the way back out the way we came. My curiosity got the best of me:

"Hey, what are the numbers on the doors? Why is Intelligence hidden among these rooms?" I ask.

"If everyone knew where Intelligence was, do you think they'd get anything done? The only people allowed past those gates are Sergeant and above, or a badge on their team." He says, bored.

"Well that just created more questions….." I chuckle as we get to the gates.

He looks at me with a straight face, either unimpressed or has zero sense of humor.

"Wait…..you said a badge on their team. I don't have a badge…" I tell him, looking down at the pass I picked up at the desk. He points at it, directly to Kandomere's picture. "That's a badge."

He opens the gate for me, and I exit. My mind is running before the second door buzzes to let me out.

I take the pass back to the main police desk, and as the cop at the desk returns my ID, badge, and gun Kandomere comes up to me.

"Stone." I turn and Monte is following him, carrying a stack of folders. "We're heading back to my station, ride with us?" He says, and I follow him to his little personal convoy of black cars.

Monte drives so Kandomere can talk to me while we're on the road. He gives me a quick rundown of the Sergeant I had just met. He's a tough old guy, but is a damn good cop. Knows the streets better than most of the thugs out here.

He gives me all the updates on Red and I go over my notes and things I put together last night. He tells me that he's squeezing a few of his informants to help find the wand.

We're at the station working for the next several hours. Between observing a few interrogations and brainstorming about everything, I didn't get a change to eat lunch. I'm scribbling notes down when my phone starts blipping. I've been nose deep in the details of the case that I hadn't noticed that it was after 6. Nick was calling me.

"Yea babe, what's up" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"Hey stranger. I haven't heard from you all day, everything good?" He asks. I can hear the background behind him, he's driving.

"Yea, I've just been face deep in this case, I didn't realize what time it was." I said in a yawn.

"Have you eaten dinner?" He asked, making me realize I hadn't eaten all day.

"Nah…I haven't anything since breakfast." I say, flat.

"Yea…yea, I haven't either." he says "Today was….interesting."

"Oooo…do I get to hear about it on the way home?" I ask in my 'exaggeratedly interested voice'.

"Ah sure, if you want. You at Kandomere's station still? I can come get you…" he says, a bit suggestive.

"Yea I'm still here. Finishing up now, should be done by the time you get here. Bring food!"

We hang up and I gather my things and start cleaning the desk I was using.

"You don't have to clean that. You can leave it as is, that's your desk until further notice." Kandomere says from his office. My desk is just outside his door.

I nod, smiling at him. " 'preciate that boss."

Nick picks me up and when I climb into the truck I see the familiar symbol of the key to my heart:

the white and yellow Chinese take-out bag.

"Ugh, you love me." I whine. Before he takes off, he leans over and cups my face with his hand. Pulls me a little, and leans the rest of the way to bring his mouth to mine. After kissing me for a few minutes, he stares at my face. "I missed you." he whispers.

He pecks a kiss on the tip of my nose and sits up straight, putting the truck in gear to drive home.

On the way home he tells me about his day. How they had found a few teenagers who had ODed and were hanging to life by a thread, broke up a fight at a store's parking lot, and had to clean up the back of the truck because the last guy they arrested felt the need to bash his head against the cage until he bled all over the backseat and windows.

"Well you're alive and heading home, so I'd say it was a great day." I tell him, watching his eyes. He's rubbing his chin, replaying today's events. I feel the worry radiating from him and I look for something to take his mind off the day.

"What did you get us to eat?" I ask him, looking down into the bag.

"Chinese food. I got you your favorite, and I got me some veggies and got enough miso soup for both of us to last through the weekend." He says, his mood changing from worried to relaxed.

"Yea that's a good idea, it's been raining a lot lately. Gonna rain again tomorrow" I tell him, excitedly.

He laughs and pull into the driveway.

He grabs the food and follows me inside.

When I turn the corner down into hall, I stop in my tracks. My stomach felt like it hit the floor. From the hallway entrance, all the way into my room is streaks of red. Blood, a lot of blood, trailing from the hallway into my bedroom. The wall has blood smeared into words: PIG FUCKER

I drop to my knees, gasping… tears welling in my eyes. Nick runs to me…

"Aella, are you oka-.." he stops talking when he sees what I'm staring at.

He picks me up immediately and takes me to his truck, setting me into the passenger seat. He puts the keys in the ignition and starts the truck.

I'm trying to hold my sobbing. Tears still welling in my eyes. "Stay. Here. If I'm not out in 10 minutes, go to Ward's house." He says, firmly.

"What?! Nick don't go ba-" I start to tell him but he cuts me off.

"Aella I need to see what happened first. Just stay here, please." He pleads, and walks back in the house. Normally, I'd have followed him…..but I already knew what the trail was. And I didn't have the strength to deal with it. I look at the clock and wait, feeling my heart break. I refused to accept it though. Not yet.

A few minutes later Nick walks back outside, sombre. He comes to the passenger side, and opens my door. I don't get out. I don't even look at him because I know I'll see it in his eyes. I can already feel it. I can feel his heart breaking at having to tell me.

"Aella…baby…" He says. His voice, bracing for bad news.

I'm shaking my head, still not looking at him.

"Don't. Don't you fucking say it." I look down at him, failing to cover my fear and crying with anger.

His eyes, round and full of grief.

"Don't…" I tell him, my voice trailing off..."Don't you dare tell me that Ollie is dead" I cry.

He reaches out for me at the same time as I lean over and fall into his chest, sobbing.

I can feel his chest rise and fall with heavy breathing. He pulls me against him tight, and puts his head against mine. After a while, my crying slows. It slows more from exhaustion than anything else. He sits me back up into the truck and closes the door. He gets into the driver's seat and lifts the middle console, patting the seat for me to lay down. I put my head on his leg and curl myself up. His arm comes to rest on me while he scrolls and clicks away on his phone.

"I'm gonna get you a hotel for a few nights. I'll get this place cleaned up." He says.

"Why are you getting a hotel? Why can't we stay at your place?" I ask him softly.

"I'm in the middle of getting out of my lease since it was broken into. I've been looking for a new place. Maybe a little further from work, I don't know." He says, clicking confirm on his phone.

Nick POV

She hugs my hand. "Don't go live somewhere else." she whispers. She lays her head back down on my leg and I feel her new flowing tears through my pants. I wish I could make this go away.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'm gonna go get you some clothes and things for this weekend while your place gets cleaned up." I tell her, rubbing my thumb up and down her cheek. She turns her face, to look at me. Her cheeks are red and wet. "Who's cleaning my house?" she asks, sniffing.

"Don't worry about that. You just rest. Stay here, I'll go get the stuff." I slide out of the truck and walk back into the house. After gathering her suitcase with clothes and things, I grab her keys and wallet. Her suitcase fits neatly into the corner of the truck's bed. I get into the truck and Aella has fallen asleep, cheeks still wet.

I drive to the hotel that I booked for her. It's a nice hotel, a few blocks away from Kandomere's station, so if she felt like going to work on the case, she could walk.

After checking in, I carry her to the room. She stays asleep the whole time, and I'm putting away all her things.

I step out into the hallway quietly and call Ward. After updating him on everything, he's concerned about who could have done it. Nothing of hers was destroyed, those were the only two things they did.

I tuck myself in, pulling Aella against me.

While I lay there holding her against me, I flip through the tv channels with it on mute.

There's no sleep tonight. Not after today.


	23. Chapter 23

****Chapter 23****

[[ I made this chapter longer since I know y'all are mad at me for Ollie]]

 ** **I am not affiliated with, nor getting compensation from any band mentioned in this chapter, Just a huge fan :)****

Nick POV

I wake up and it took me a few seconds to remember where I am and why I'm in a different bed. After blinking a few times everything comes back to me. I look down at Aella and she isn't there. The only noise I hear is the shower running in the bathroom. I go and knock on the door, listening.

"Come in" she says, low.

I walk into the completely steamed out bathroom.I peek into the curtain and she's covered in soap bubbles, her face dark and emotionless.

"Do you need anything?" I ask her. She shakes her head, and continues to wash her body.

"Alright. Well I've gotta go in today. Kandomere's station is right around the corner if you're going in. If you need me for anything…anything, Aella…you know you ca-"

She cuts me off.

"I know babe. I'll call you if I need anything. I'm just not really in the mood for anything right now. I'm probably going to work in a bit. I'm gonna need a distraction." She says.

I nod, but I disagree with her. I know better than to try and convince her otherwise so I keep to myself.

"Okay. I'll tell the concierge downstairs to give you anything you need." I reach in and grab her hand, gently pulling her to me. Her eyes are on the edge of crying again. She hugs me, and I feel her hands go under my shirt, lifting it.

"Whoa, what-…" I start asking her.

"Shower with me…" she whispers, holding her tears back.

Without thinking about it, I slide all my clothes off and step in the shower with her. She immediately hugs me, her breaths ragged. She isn't crying, but I can feel her body slightly limp, exhausted.

"Are you sure you want to go to work today? You should res-…"

"Yes." she says, before letting me finish. She said it without hesitation.

I turn and stand in the hot water while she still hugs me. I feel her breaths slow down a bit, she's no longer crying. I kiss the top of her head and just stand in the shower with her until she's ready to get out.

After a while, I shower myself while she dries off. After getting dressed she lays on the bed, looking through the little room service book that was laying on the night stand. I open the curtains letting in some light. There's clouds completely covering the sky, a storm moving in.

"You were right, it's gonna rain." I tell her, maybe giving her some piece of good news.

She comes to the window looking out, silently.

I intentionally asked for a room on the top floor so she could stay at the window if she wanted to.

I kiss her goodbye and leave the room.

On my way through the lobby, I stop at the desk. It's a different person than who was there last night.

" Excuse me…" I say.

He looks up and is slightly taken aback when he sees me.

"Uh..is-..is there something I can help you with?" he stammers, and I can smell his nervousness.

"Yea, room 632, charge everything to the room. Whatever she wants, just give it to her." I tell him. He nods and I thank him before walking out through the sliding doors and head to work.

Aella POV

Shortly after Nick left I head out the door for work. I didn't need to be bored, and I didn't need to be alone. 20 minutes later I get to Kandomere's station and sit at my desk, gathering my thoughts.

Monte walks out of Kandomere's office and sees me. He comes over to my desk, "We've got Red in the interrogation room already. Not sure how you want to go about this, but you know he isn't gonna let you in the same room with him. What all have you put together so far on your end?" he says.

His questions pull my mind back to work and I go over my notes.

"Has he said __anything__?" I ask Monte. He shakes his head. "Nah, not yet. We keep asking the same basic questions, just in different ways. This pig motherfucker isn't saying anything." he says, sipping his coffee.

The words "pig motherfucker" rang in my mind after he says them, and I can see the blood on my wall again.

PIG FUCKER

My mind buzzing, seeing only one thing. I stand and walk towards the interrogation room.

 _ _I have to move quick before Kandomere gets his hands on me…__

I open the door to the interrogation room and walk in without closing it behind me. Kandomere is at the other end of the room, in the corner with his arms crossed. Within a few steps in the room Red looks at me while I'm walking towards him. I get to him as fast as I can, my fists already balled.

Using all my weight, My fist connects with his mouth, sending blood and saliva from his mouth. Kandomere already on my heels. "Aella!" he yells, grabbing for me.

Kandomere's hands are around my waist, pulling me back but I punch Red again, in his nose. Monte walks into the room and helps Kandomere.

"AELLA STOP!" one of them yells, I don't care to listen.

I use both hands to get in as many punches to his nose and eyes as I can before both Kandomere and Monte are pulling me from him, dragging me towards the door. Red spits blood onto the table and smiles at me. Looking at his eyes, I feel him suddenly.

Numb. Completely empty.

My body relaxes and they pull me out of the room, closing the door. Monte puts me against the wall, holding me still, both of them breathing hard.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Kandomere yells at me, a few of his uniformed hands jogging around the corner towards us.

I look at the ground, not answering him. My hands are shaking, knuckles bleeding and cut up from his teeth. Catching my breath, I tell him "He isn't gonna talk. He's empty. He has nothing."

"Aella go home" Kandomere says, pissed. He nods at one of his hands, and they grab my arm. I yank my arm from his hold and glare at him. "I can walk." I say, starting to walk away.

He follows me to my desk where I grab my things, and leave.

I walk back to the hotel, and text Nick.

I'm pretty sure I just fucked this all up. I need to find a way to fix it.

Less than an hour later, I'm in the bathroom cleaning the blood from my hands with a first aid kit that was delivered from downstairs. I hear the door click as it unlocks from the key card and I grab my gun, pointing it at the door. Nick walks in wearing his full uniform. He freezes, his hands up, breathing hard. "Aella! It's me…." I sigh and put my gun back on the counter next to the sink.

He comes to me, grabbing my hands.

"What the hell happened? Why is there blue-…." I see his nose flaring, as he takes in all the smells. He looks up at me, his eyes wide. "Who's blood is this…" He asks.

I look at his chest, not answering him.

"Aella…" he asks again.

I pull my hands from his, and turn off the water from the sink. I grab the roll of bandage wrap and gun, and walk out of the bathroom. Nick follows me. I sit on the bed and hand him the roll.

"Help me wrap my hands? I'll explain everything." I tell him, my voice low.

He sits on the bed next to me, and a knock comes from the door. He gets up, hands me the wrapping and we're both on our feet, guns ready.

"Who is it?" Nick calls out as he gets to the door.

"Jakoby open the damn door" Ward says, on the other side.

He tucks his gun away and opens the door, letting Ward walk in, who is also in full uniform.

He sees me sit back on the bed, gun in my lap, hands bleeding.

"What the hell happened?" He says, looking at both of us.

"She was about to explain when you knocked on the door." Nick says, sitting back on the bed next to me. He starts gently wrapping my hands while I start explaining my morning.

"I went to work. Got to my desk, and Monte saw me. Started talking to me about the case. He said something about 'pig motherfucker', describing Red. …And when he said that, the only thing I could think of was the blood on the wall." I tell Nick, who stopped mid-wrap to look at me.

I continue, "I snapped. I went into the interrogation room and started beating the shit out of Red and Kandom-"

Nick cuts me off… "You WHAT?!" He says, standing. Ward pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Aella…" Nick says as he starts pacing. Ward chuckles and Nick looks at him. I finish wrapping my hands. "How is this funny?" He asks Ward.

"It's not…but…I mean what are we gonna do? What she did, is done. We just gotta roll with what comes next." He shrugs.

"Ward, Red knows what she looks like now. He will send someone to find her. And then what?" He says, breathing heavy again, still pacing.

"So we keep him from finding her." Ward says.

"Yea, and how are we gonna do that?" Nick says, stopping to look at Ward.

"You're blooded with the biggest orc gang in LA. I'm sure you'll get creative." Ward says. I feel a spark go off inside Nick. He looks at me, thinking.

"Well I'm probably out of a job for awhile anyway, so…what are we doing?" I ask out loud.

"I'm gonna call Dorghu." He says while pulling his phone from his pocket.

Ward nods and I massage my knuckles, wincing. He comes and sits next to me while Nick talks on the phone. He looks at my hands, massaging them.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asks me, softly.

"I wasn't. I just knew I wanted to fuck him up." I said.

"I get that part. Everyone wants to fuck him up, and more. But what I'm not understanding is, why him? Did he have something to do with the break-in?" he says.

"I don't know. But whoever did it better be long gone now because if I find them…"

"Hey. Don't think about that right now. You need to be focusing on staying hidden, and getting your job back." He says.

"Getting my job back? Ward, Kandom-" I start but Nick is now radiating with nervous…and his conversation catches my attention.

"No…No, you don't have to do-…" he says before looking down at his phone, the call over. He comes back over to us, his head shaking.

"What's up?" Ward asks him.

He sighs, and hesitates. "Dorghu is on his way up here." He says, sounding disappointed.

"Why's that a bad thing?" I ask them both.

"I don't know if it's a bad thing. I also don't know if its a good thing either." Nick says.

"Well you did just explain to him that a cop, who is also your girlfriend, just beat the shit out of an orc who was already in custody. He may not be very happy." I explain.

"Great…" Ward says, sarcastically.

"No. He isn't worried about that." he says. "He's got an idea and wants to talk to you."

"Why does he want to talk to me?" I ask, confused.

He shrugs. "Not sure, but we gotta get back to work. Don't answer the door unless it's Dorghu."

I give him a look that says 'I know'. Ward starts walking toward the door. Nick comes over to me, taking my face into his hands. "Can you behave for the rest of the day?" He says.

"Yea. I don't have anything else to do today, so I guess I'll hang out here." I sigh.

He nods, then brings his lips to mine gently kissing me. He looks at my eyes for a few seconds, like he wants to say something. I feel warmth in my chest….

"Be safe, please." he whispers. He turns and leaves with Ward.

I lay on the bed and grab the remote.

 _ _I guess I'll watch TV until Dorghu gets here.__

-Over half an hour later

I start dozing off while I'm flipping through the channels. The phone on the night stand rings, waking me. I hesitate to answer it…but pick it up without saying anything.

"Room 632? Mrs. Jakoby?" I hear the guy on the other end say.

"Yea, this is she…" I say, the words 'Mrs. Jakoby' caught me off guard.

"There's someone downstairs claiming he's here to see you, I just wanted to verify with you." he says.

"Sure, what's he look like?…What's he wearing?" I ask him.

"He's a very large orc, w-..wearing a leather jacket and-" he explains.

"He's here for me, send him up." I tell him.

".…oh…okay.." He says quietly before hanging up the phone.

I hang up the phone and go back to mindlessly flipping through channels. A few minutes later there's a solid knock at the door. I go look through the peephole and see Dorghu standing there waiting, looking up and down the hallway. I let him in and close the door behind him, locking it. I turn around and before I could say anything, he grabs my hands and looks at them.

"Wow. I didn't believe him when he told me." he says, walking into the rest of the room. He sits on the bed and grabs the room service folder.

"What's for lunch?" he asks. I shrug…

"I don't know. Order whatever. I'm not hungry." I tell him as I lay back down on the other side of the bed. He looks at me, then sets the book down. "Alright. Let's go." he says, standing.

I don't move, but I look at him. "Dorghu I don't really feel like going anywhere…"  
He sighs. "Alright, look. Three of my guys just finished cleaning your house. You need to let it air out for a few days though, so the hotel is perfect. I told Nick I'd take care of you while he's at work, so let's go." He motions toward the door.

"Where are you gonna take me? I should stay here so I'm not seen." I tell him.

"No. You need to be seen. With me. I'm not gonna say it again, let's go." he says, his voice getting firmer. "I __will__ drag your ass out of here." he finishes.

I stand. "Alright fine. Where are we going?" he walks towards the door, not answering me.

I follow him, getting more and more annoyed.

As we walk through the lobby towards the entrance I notice people looking at us. He walks in front of me, not worried about anyone or why they're looking at us. Right outside the doors is a valet pull in. Both of his black SUVs are sitting there. He opens the backseat door to the first one, motioning for me to get in. I climb in and he gets in next to me. When he shuts the door he says something in orcish and then we're off. I look over at him and he's mindlessly staring out the window.

"You gonna tell me where we're going?" I ask him.

He sighs and looks over at me. "I'm taking you to get something you need. No, your boyfriend doesn't know about this, yet."

The rest of the ride was silent except for the faint sound of Rammstein coming from the speakers. I'm mindlessly whispering along with some of the lyrics

"You listen to this?" I hear Dorghu say. I turn and look at him, nodding.

He nods back at me, smiling. He says: "I'll be sure to tell Nick to keep you around."

We pull into the parking lot in front of a small house-like place, with a huge tent behind it. Like a circus tent.

"Isn't this the edge of elf-town? What are we doing way out here?" I ask, confused.

The trucks come to a stop and Dorghu gets out. He holds his hand out for me, like a gentleman.

While we walk up to the place, he tells me there's someone I need to see. I'm looking at all the trees and beautiful flowers and plants around it.

Right before we walk in, he stops me. He looks at me and sighs. I look at his eyes and reach, but I don't pick up anything negative.

"Aella. I know you're a cop." I'm startled out of my thoughts when he says this. "I knew you were a cop as soon as you came into my suite that first night. I don't care that you're a cop, if anything you'll be looking out for my boy Nick when I can't."

My body went from buzzing to nervousness. I know he despised cops….

"Nick told me what happened to you, and because it happened at my club, I'm also doing whatever you guys need to help you get better. With that being said, the girl you're gonna meet in a few minutes is the elf girl that brought Nick back to life. They saved her from The Inferni Coven and she's also a bright. She's going to be very happy to meet you." He opened the door and held it open for me.

As I walked in and looked around at all the plants and flowers with bees and birds flitting around them I thought about what Dorghu just told me. It explained so much between Ward and Nick, their past, and why they don't seem at all like the "dysfunctional partners" that I was led to believe. Besides their mindless sibling-like bickering, they're actually really good partners, and they'd do anything for each other.

Just then an older elf woman comes from around the corner holding a watering can, and she seems startled that we were there.

"Hi! Is there something I can help you guys with?" She asks in a perky voice, although I can feel nervous dropping from her as she tries not to stare at Dorghu's large presence.

"We have been invited to visit Tikka.." he says, softly.

Tikka. That's her name. From all the stories I've heard, she seems like some make-believe person that everyone adored. The woman nodded and said "Of course, follow me." and walked back through the entryway she came.

We followed her through trees and plants, the ground we walked on turning from loose gravel to hard gravel and dirt, to grass. Suddenly realizing we were outside, I look around and Dorghu is behind me, his face different…softer. He's looking around at all the greenage and taking long inhales, taking in the fresh air. She stops in front of a low hanging willow tree and waits for us to get to her.

She puts her index finger to her closed lips, signaling us to be quiet. She pulls open the curtain of willow vines, and reveals the small pond made by a passing river that had an accidental pooling spot.

Next to the water's edge is a few benches for sitting.

"She's there, in the water." She says quietly.

Looking out at the water, were two heads. One platinum hair, and the other had different colored hair. They turned to look at us, and after a few seconds, starting swimming back towards us.

The girl with platinum hair climbed out of the water and walked towards us. Her smile widening when she saw me. She came in for a hug immediately, whispering something in elvish. She took a step back and looked at my skin and eyes very intently.

"I knew it would work" she said, her voice very soft.

"What would work?" I asked her..

She stared at me for a few seconds before Dorghu said "Tikka, she doesn't remember much from when she was sick."

She smiles at me and places a very soft kiss on my lips. "It's okay. I'll help you remember everything." she said as she grabs both mine and Dorghu's hand and pulls us along to her sitting spot. The other elf woman had already walked away and I hadn't realized it.

As we move closer to the edge of the water, there's a spot of thick moss under a tree with tiger lilies and ghost orchids all around it. She sits in it, and invites me to sit with her. Dorghu stands not far away, just observing.

She puts a hand in the water and makes gentle splashes just with her fingers. Right near her hand, a head emerges from the water. Beautiful wavy hair, a shimmery and iridescent with blues and purples, like her hair was made from strands of melted opals. Tucked behind her ear is a bright red spider lily. The bright red contrasts her slightly reflective hair. Her skin was very light, almost translucent. Her honey green eyes looked at all three of us, but she stayed near Tikka's hand.

"This is Varina" Tikka whispers. "She just arrived last week with a shredded tail." she continues.

"Wow.." I say on an exhale. "I've never seen a mermaid. They're so beautiful. Who would want to hurt you?" I ask her softly.

She keeps her nose and mouth underwater, her eyes just looking at us.

"She's a freshwater mermaid. She's very friendly with you once she knows she can trust you. She lived with a fairly large pod in one of the lakes up in the mountains of Colorado. Someone saw her and attacked her, not knowing what she was." Tikka says, smoothing her hair down comforting her. "I often swim with her to help get the strength back in her tail."

She looks down at her and whispers something in a different language.

Varina looks up at me and rises out of the water more, showing her neck. There's a circular scar on her neck, right over the main artery. Something had bitten her to kill her. I look into her eyes and reach, and she's radiating caution, but wonder. She isn't scared, just curious and doesn't want to get hurt again.

"Oh honey, I'd never hurt you." I tell her, reaching my hand out very slowly.

Tikka talks to her in elvish, translating for me. She comes closer and reaches up at me. I lean down to her, and her hand comes to my cheek. Her fingers are slender, slightly webbed, with long sharp nails.

She cups my face and pulls me closer to her. She brings her lips to my other cheek. Her lips are cold and they leave my skin tingling after she moves away from me back into the water. I look at Tikka and she's got her hand over her mouth in awe. Tikka comes over and gently grabs my head, whispering in elvish, prayer like.

Dorghu quietly grunts a laugh behind us. "You're blessed, kid…tikka can we move this along now?"

She looks up at him, worry in her eyes. She blows a goodbye kiss to Varina, and leads us into the trees, into another section of the reservation. She slowed her walk, and knelt down while looking through a hole in a bush. We follow her movements and see the cutest little clearing, full of fairies living a perfect life. Flowers of all kinds growing around them, fresh water flowing through, enough trees and moss to house them all. Safe from humans and orcs, elves, and anyone else that hates them. A piece of me yearned to go in and lay among the flowers, letting their pollen intoxicate me. Tikka turns to us, whispering, "wait here." She slips through the hole and she's in their clearing, walking through the center as if she lives there as well. A few fairies circling her, playing with her, or sitting on her shoulders. They loved her…

On the other side of the clearing she kneels down into a small bed of brightly colored flowers.

She comes walking back, the fairies flying away as she comes into the bushes back to her hand are several stems of a very bright flower, the middle petals dusted with a fine sheen of dust. Suddenly the smell of sweet honey seduced my nose, making my head buzz. I stumbled backwards a bit and Dorghu caught me.

"You alright?" He says, looking down at me, confused.

Tikka gives a quiet little giggle, nodding. "She is fey."

"She's what now?" Dorghu asks, his eyes squinting. He's still holding me up.

"Fey. Those.."she says, pointing into the clearing. "Only fey gets drunk from this flower. The Crocosmia. It is what cured her. They are normally white throughout the year, but during the late spring when they turn orange, their musk intoxicates all fey. It is very very seductive to them. She can keep these. Hang them upside down in a cold area and let them dry so they aren't as potent. She can keep them where she sleeps, they will help her stay refreshed and energized." Her eyes twinkled when she said 'energized'.

"Fantastic. I will let Nick know what to do with them. But for now, can you put those in a bag or something, because I'm not gonna hold her up the rest of the day." He says, looking down at me.

My head is still buzzing very pleasantly. She nods and leads us back the way we came. He tosses me over his shoulder and I rest my head on my hand against his back, like being towed by an orc was a normal thing now.

 _ _I guess it is, actually.__

I had no idea what that flower that is but it made me feel amazing. My hands no longer hurting. My headache dissolved. We're back in the office at the front when I hear someone in front of us was rustling some plastic. Suddenly the pleasant veil lifted and I blink a few times, coming out of my buzz and wondering why I'm being carried like a child.

Dorghu puts me down and shows me the flowers that are now in an air tight bag.

"Don't open these, unless you're in the hotel room, or at home. You are very sensitive to them still." He says, very sure. I nod, absorbing this new information about myself. Tikka gives me a tight hug and says she'll put me on the mailing list for a bunch of these flowers to be delivered every month during their brightest season. She briefly hugs Dorghu and slips away into the bushes back to her little cove.

The elf woman who showed us in waved us goodbye and we walked out towards the trucks.

On the ride back to the hotel, I was thinking over everything that had just happened.

 _ _She called me fey…__

"Everything okay?" I hear Dorghu ask from his side of the truck.

I turn to look at him, nodding. "Yeah, I'm great actually. That flower made me feel really good."

"Oh, I know. You should have seen how quickly you crumbled from smelling it" he chuckled.

I laugh and think more about the flowers she had given me, and why they affect me that way.

He drops me off at the hotel and right as he opens the door to let me out, Nick walks out of the automatic doors, straight towards me. He slides his arms around me and hugs me tight. The kinda hugs that make your world stop for a few seconds. Dorghu holds up the bag holding the flowers.

He lets me go, and looks at Dorghu wit big eyes. "You went to see Tikka?" He asks Dorghu.

"Yes. She needed these. Trust me." he says, handing him the flowers. "Hang these upside down in a cold area until they dry. Then hang them about in her most commonly used rooms. Watch how different she'll be. You should have seen her when she first picked them and stood next to her with the whole cluster." he laughed. Nick nods, thinking about the flowers.

"Will they really work?" Nick says, looking at them.

Dorghu nods, his eyebrows high. "yes. I'll be having some sent to my club monthly so it helps keep drama at bay there too."

"Okay. I'm gonna take her up to rest." Nick says.

"Uh huh. Rest. Sure…" Dorghu says sarcastically. He gets into the truck and they both drive off. Nick turns back to me holding the flowers.

He smiles and holds out his hand. We go back upstairs to the room.

Upstairs, Nick POV

Aella let's herself fall into the bed, sighing. I can smell her exhaustion after the day she's had.

I take the flowers from the bag and I'm maneuvering them to put them in the fridge upside down like instructed. The dust making my nose tickle a little bit. Suddenly Aella starts moaning from the bed. I turn to look at her and she's writhing around on the bed, eyes closed.

I go over to the bed, "Aella, you alright?"

"Mmmmhm…It feels so gooooodddd" She says through moans. The sounds she's making are causing my body to react.

"Uh…w-what feels good, love?" Trying to stay focused on her.

"Those flowers" She says, her voice like velvet. She rolls onto her back, her hand between her legs. She bites her lip and arches her back…

"Aella….um…" I start, but she continues…

"Close the fridge door. I can smell the flowers..it's too much, close the dooooor" She pants.

I rush over and close the door to the fridge, waving around to dissipate their scent. Her writhing calms down and she lays there, eyes closed with a smug smile on her face, adoringly.

"Better?" I ask her, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Yes, it's just a nice buzzing now." She says, her breathing tapering off to a steady rhythm.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get us some food, what do you want me to grab for you?" I ask, slipping my jacket back on.

"Whatever you want, love. I'm not picky." She says.

I lean down and plant a kiss on her warm cheek. As I'm leaving the room, a house-keeping cart is a few doors down. I walk past it towards the elevator, when a young orc comes out of a room and calls to me. He's wearing scrubs and carrying a few tied bags of trash. I turn and see him looking at me, expectantly.

"Were you calling me?" I asked, pointing at myself.

He nods, nodding me to come over. I walk closer to him and he looks down the hallways. He says "I'm here for Dorghu. Made me apply to work here so I can have eyes on her."

I shake his hand in appreciation, and make a mental note to thank Dorghu later.

I come back into the room with two bags of food. She's laying in the bed, swaddled up in the comforter watching something on tv. Her eyes lightly glazed over.

I cross the room and set the food on the small table near the window. "Food's here, love." I call to her. She sits up, looking over at me pulling all the boxes from the bag.

"Where did you go?" She asks, sounding half asleep.

"There's a really nice Japanese place up the street, they have amazing hibachi chefs. Got your favorite noodles and veggies for you-.." but before I could finish my words, she hugs me from behind suddenly. She comes around and grabs her box. She takes it back to the bed and eats like she hasn't eaten all day.

"You haven't eaten all day?" I ask her

She doesn't stop inhaling her food, ignoring my question. I get back to unpacking my dinner when Aella's phone rings. When she sees the name on the screen, she jumps up and answers it quickly.

"Hello?" She says, chewing and swallowing her food.

She listens for a few seconds and then looks over at me. "um…let me talk to Nick about it. I don't want to say yes and put myself into a worse situation. Call me back in like an hour?" she says.

She nods and ends the call. I'm about to fork food into my mouth when she walks over, so I stop.

"Kandomere needs me back on the case." She says softly, her eyes pleading silently.


	24. Chapter 24

****Chapter 24****

 ** **I am not affiliated with, nor getting compensation from and band mentioned in this chapter.-Just a huge fan :)****

 _ _[[thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows!]]__

 _ _Hey, let me know if you like the length of this chapter, or if you prefer them shorter or longer__

I stand, immediately pissed. "No! Absolutely not, Aella. He knows what you look like! I'm not letting you anywhere near that station as long as he's there." I tell her, a growl growing in my chest. Her hands come to my chest, her face gentle.

"Do you want to hear what Kandomere has to say first, befo-" she starts, but I don't want to hear it.

"No. Nothing he can say can convince me-" but before I could finish, a firm knock comes at the door. As I walk to the door I pull the gun from my belt, already being worked up.

"Who is it?" I yell at the door.

It's silent until I get a few steps away from the door, when I hear the familiar velvety voice say "Officer Jakoby, open the door. There's a very important conversation I need to have with Aella."

"She's not taking it. She's not working on this case anymore, find someone else." I tell him, putting my gun away. Aella comes up behind me, her soft voice grabbing me, "Jakoby…"

I turn and look down at her, she continues. "Just listen to him. Please. If this is a chance to salvage my career, I'm gonna want to take it."

I couldn't hold that against her. She was a lot like me in that sense. She loved being a cop, and she was a damn good one. It also gave her a chance to get off the street.

I sigh and look at her intently. "If he can find a way to have you working on the case __without__ being anywhere near Red, then that's fine. But I cannot have you near him like that again. One of you is going to get seriously hurt or worse, and __your__ chances aren't zero."

She cups my face with her hand and gets on her toes to kiss me. "Let's just see what he has to say. We don't have to say yes." she says gently.

She's being unusually calm during this, and it's strange. I open the door to let Kandomere in, and one fully outfitted swat guy follows him. I look through the door at the same time that Kandomere says, "It's just me. Montehugh will not be joining me tonight." So I close the door.

He walks through the kitchenette to the sitting area and he stops in his tracks, inhaling deeply.

"Crocosmia…" he turns around and looks at me. "Where is it?" he says, firmly.

"Where is what?" I ask, genuinely confused. I see Aella's face fill with worry.

"The flowers. You have bright orange flowers in here. Where are they?" He says.

"They're for me. They're mine." Aella says, before I could say anything. I look down at her, curious as to what she's gonna say.

"What do you need with Crocosmia?" He says, coming closer to her.

"Kandomere. You were there at the hospital when they figured out what was wrong with her." I tell him.

"Yes..." She says sighing. "…apparently these flowers are really good for me. So a friend found them and brought them to me." She finishes.

"A friend, huh?" he says, sarcastic dripping from his tongue.

"Does…this friend…have pointy ears?…" he asks slowly, hinting towards describing an elf.

"Yes. He does. And blue skin, and a leather jacket…" she says, Kandomere's face remaining solid like stone. He tightens his jaw, turning on his heel and walking towards the window. Aella shoots me a look and follows him.

"You said you __needed__ me back on the case. Why did you say needed?" She asks him.

"The details of this case are very sensitive, if you and I could speak alone-" Kandomere says but I cut him off, not even wanting him to say it. "No." He was supposed to keep her out of harm's way and she still got to Red on her own. Aella puts her hand on my chest, looking at me.

"It's okay." she whispers. "I'll be fine I promise. I'm here in the room, it's just us. You'll be nearby."

It physically hurt to say no to her when she used her cute voice on me, and she knew it. If we were anywhere else, I wouldn't agree…but she is in the room. I agree and I follow the swat guy out of the room. I stay in the hallway near the door.

They're in there talking for about 30 minutes when the door opens and Kandomere walks out, followed by Aella. He comes to me, but Aella stays in the doorway. "She'll give you the details of what we're going to do. I don't need to stress how important it is to get this monster off our streets, officer Jakoby." He says and walks off, followed by his escort. I go back into the room and lock the door behind us.

"What's going on?" I ask her. She sits on the bed and I sit next to her.

"Red will choose __not__ to press charges against the department for harassment if I'm the one asking him the questions, alone. If I'm not alone or if I refuse, he will win the case and be set free. Along with that, I would be fired and my badge would be striped." she says, her eyes on the ground. I wasn't upset with her at all for what she did. She already accepted the fact that she fucked up, we just need to figure out what's best for everyone. And her being in the same room alone with Red, was out of the question but I didn't want her to lose her career.

"Oh shit." was all I could say.

Her hands cover her face and I scoot closer to her, sliding my hand on her back.

"Hey, we're gonna figure this out, okay?" I tell her. "I just don't want you in danger, love."

"I understand that. But he said he'd __answer__ my questions, Nick. We could get him off these streets…" she says.

"Aella there is no way to tell WHAT he's going to tell you. He could be trying to get you within reach again." I explain to her.

She sighs and gets up. She walks into the bathroom and shuts the door.

Assuming the conversation was over, I turn the tv on and start flipping through channels for something to watch. Suddenly she comes out of the bathroom, her arms full of her toiletries. She dumps them onto the bed and grabs her duffle bag, putting her things in them. When she starts putting her clothes in her bag, I ask her "Are you leaving?"

She doesn't say anything, but continues to pack her bag. I stand and go to her.

"Aella?..." I say, grabbing her hand softly.

She looks at me, anger in her eyes. "I'm going to help Kandomere. I became a cop to get assholes like that off the street, my health be damned. I mean, isn't that why YOU became a cop? I don't need to be with someone who doesn't support that, or with someone who's going to make decisions for me." She spits as she zips her bag shut. I turn her back around to look at me.

"Aella you can't be serious? what are you doing?" I ask her, more worried than anything else.

"NICK!" she yells as she pulls away from me. "I'm going home. I'm not going to be held down."

She sets her bag on the floor and starts grabbing her phone and wallet.

Stunned into silence, I don't know what to say to change her mind.

 _ _How do I get to her to see that I'm just trying to keep her safe? I don't want her to leave me…..__

I get between her and the door, "Aella, please, stop. Don't leave." I say, reaching for her hand.

I can see the plan I put together for her flushing away. My chest tightening at the idea of her leaving.

She starts walking towards the door, her bag on her shoulder. I hold her hand to stop her from going. She looks back at me, her eyes wet and angry, and she pulls her hand from mine and opens the door.

"Don't go." I tell her, my throat getting tight.

She looks back at me one last time and shakes her head as she walks out the door, letting it slam behind her. My eyes move to the ground, misty with tears. Suddenly I smell the flowers from the fridge. I open the fridge and they're still there, upside down, and bright orange. I grab them and quickly go into the hallway. 'Aella, your flowers!" I say loud enough for her to hear. At the end of the hall, she stops and turns around to look at me holding her flowers.

I watch her hesitate and slowly start to walk back towards me.

 _ _Last chance__ …

Watching her walk back towards me after thinking I'd lost her changed my mind. I didn't care if she wanted to help Kandomere, I couldn't lose her. And…I knew exactly how she felt about her job.

She got close enough to me to reach out for the flowers. I dropped them to the floor, grabbed her hand and pulled her to me, catching her lips. I slid my other hand into her hair and held onto her tight. At first she was a bit rigid, being surprised at me pulling her into a kiss. Suddenly she melted into me and returned my kisses, dropping her bag and sliding her arms around my neck. Her kisses got deeper, more deliberate, and I felt her breaths get heavier. I picked up the smell of the flowers, and it made my nose tickle like I was getting ready to sneeze. I broke the kiss and sneezed away from her. Her body started to slowly rub against me, her eyes closed and she breathed deep breaths. Realizing what was happening, I look down and notice that some of the dust from the petals had been bounced into the air when I dropped them. This caused the flower's scent to fill part of the hallway and put Aella completely under its spell. She lifted my face and brought her lips back to mine, kissing me like she regretted walking out. My pants started getting tight from Aella rubbing against me. Kissing me muffled her soft moans and I take a few steps back until we're against the door to our room. I break the kiss again, long enough to bend down to pick up the flowers and her bag. I open the door to the room and she slowly walks inside, not taking her eyes off me. I drop her bag just inside the door and set the flowers onto the counter, more focused on her than putting the flowers away. She pulls me to the bed and she falls back onto it, pulling me down on top of her. I continue kissing her, my hand cupping her face. I feel one of her hands on the back of my head, her other hand on my back, holding me against her. She stops kissing me to breathe and she's staring at me with lightly glazed eyes.

I don't know if she was going to say something or not, but I did not want her leaving again.

"I love you" I whisper, looking at her eyes, hoping I didn't just scare her off. She froze while looking at me, still panting. Her eyes move from my eyes to my lips, and all around my face. I feel my throat get tight again but I focus on her.

"Nick.." she whispers. "…I think I love you too.." She says very softly, as if she's scared.

 _ _Why would anyone be scared to love? What has she been through?__

I sit up and pull her into my lap, nuzzling my face into her neck. My arms are around her back, holding her tight against me. My intentions were not to seduce her, but rather to cherish the fact that she's this close to me, that she said she loved me, that she didn't leave. Aella's body and noises were reacting as if I was trying to turn her on. I realized my mistake. I pull her out of my lap and set her on the bed next to me while I go put the flowers back into the fridge. Their dust particles floating around the room, I realize it's going to take a while to dissipate. This is the wrong human to receive anything that boosts her already sky rocketing libido. I focus on what her smile will look like when I finally reveal my plan to her. That's worth waiting over taking advantage of her now.

I start waving around the air to get air circulating and get the dust particles to move away from where Aella was.

I walk back over to the bed and watch her eyes go from seduction to adoration.

I sit on the edge of the bed and cup her face, running my thumb over her cheek. She scoots closer to me, bringing her lips to mine.

"Don't do that anymore" I whisper to her, slightly pleading.

She looks at me for a few seconds, thinking, then softly says, "I'm not sure why I was trying to leave. I have no intention of leaving you Nick." She says. "I'm still pissed about this whole case thing. I just want to get it over with." she finishes.

"I know what being a cop means to you. Because it's the same for me. I'd never be able to live with myself if you ever got hurt again." I tell her. "….But, I know you can take care of yourself. I know you will figure out a way to put this asshole away before he gets to someone else."

She looks at me then, her eyes getting brighter.

"Yes, I'm in full support of you going to help Kandomere win this case." I tell her.

She launches herself into my arms, hugging me and kissing me. I lay back, bringing her with me. She lays on top of me, kissing my bottom lip. She opens her legs and straddles me, sitting up. I prop my head onto my folded arms and watch her. She scoots my shirt up my belly, above my chest. Her eyes follow the blue patterns on my body, her fingers tracing some of them. She leans down and kisses trails all over my chest. I pull the shirt off over my head and slide my arm over her back. My hands slid over her ass, and she comes up and brings her mouth to mine for a deep kiss. I sit up with her in my lap, and pull her shirt off over her head. I put my hand in her hair and bring her neck to my mouth, biting her neck. She muffles a moan from biting her bottom lip, and I feel her nails go into my back. Her body clenches against mine and I feel her hot mound between her legs rub against my dick. She continues grinding and moaning, while I bite and down her neck to her shoulders.. My bites weren't drawing blood, but were hard enough to leave marks. She seemed to be loving it. I bring one of my hands between her legs and I can feel that she's wet already. Her body shudders and she whispers, "Take them off….take them off…" as she pulls her waistband down to her ass.

Knowing exactly where this was going, I'm suddenly fully erect and I have the breathtaking urge to flip her over, hold her down, and shove myself inside her until she screamed.

"Fuck!" I scoot her off my lap and she falls onto the bed. She gasps from surprise and watches me walk into the bathroom, a low growl in my chest. I stand there for a few minutes, catching my breath to calm down. I run the water for a cool shower and I hear her knock softly on the door. I'm not mad at her so I let her in. I'm more mad at the situation I've put myself in, and I wasn't prepared for the frustration it's caused. I'm ready to shower but I don't take my pants off, because she's in there. I will not be able to control myself if my pants were off. She walks to me, eyes low, and hugs me. "I'm sorry babe. I didn't mean to tease you. I just got caught up in kissing you, feeling you. You feel amazing Nick. But I'll leave you be, I just wanted to say sorry and I love you." she says, and turns and leaves. I watch her ass swing in her leggings as she walks out, she wasn't doing it on purpose. I growl again and step into the cold shower.

Almost half an hour later I emerge from the bathroom and Aella is snuggled under the blankets, asleep with the tv on. I've completely calmed down and I slide under the blankets next to her and turn off the tv.

The next morning I wake up to the sounds and smells of her humming while she dries herself from a shower. She emerges in just a towel, hair up in a wet bun. The most adorable thing I've ever seen. She applies lotion all over her skin, I see her smiling when she looks at me.

"Enjoying the show?" she says, and I pick up on her sarcasm.

I scoff at her. "Of course I am. As much as I paid for this room, it better come with a show." I laugh and she throws her bottle of lotion at me.

She dresses in her normal outfit theme of jeans, boots, fitted black tshirt, and her leather jacket. She straightens her clothes and hair in the mirror. She gathers her wallet as I get up and make my way to her. She's heading straight to Kandomere's station from here.

Before I walk into the bathroom I pull her to me to kiss her..

She looks at my lips, smiling, then looks at my eyes.

"If you ever use those flowers against me to get your way again, I will ruin your life." She says in a sweet but low voice, catching me off guard.

She smiles and kisses me before saying "See you tonight Nick" and slips out of the room. I'm left standing there silent. I didn't know whether to be excited or terrified….

A Few Hours Later

Aella POV

I'm in the observation room looking over my notes and listening to Montehugh ask Red questions, to no avail. They still hadn't found a lawyer to represent him, and he didn't seem to mind being here on his own. Nothing at all bothered him because he knew we couldn't prove shit.

 _ _That shit is changing. Soon.__

I'm reading from my notes when suddenly he says something to Monte. I knew it was him speaking because it was only him and Monte in the interrogation room. Kandomere is standing next to me, reading one of my files. We both look up upon hearing his voice, going to the window.

"Where is the girl? I will only answer her questions. If not, get back to finding me a lawyer." He says.

Monte sighs, his hands on his hips. He shakes his head and leaves the interrogation room at the same time I see Kandomere look over at me, worry clouding his eyes. Monte joins us in the observation room, his face full of exhaustion. He was sick and tired of seeing this guy every day, but he wasn't going to let him go. He wasn't going to sleep until we nail him, or an attorney has the gall to represent him.

"Guys, I'll do this. I'm not afraid of him. Just have your guys stand with their guns pointed at him, and if he moves-they shoot." I tell them.

"That won't work. If anyone else is in the room with you, he won't talk. He has offered to tell us everything, if it's just you in the room." He slowly explains.

"Alright, then we'll do my original idea. Put him in a goddamn cage or a cell where he can't reach me, and everyone else clear out." I say, getting excited.

They both stare at me for a few seconds, silently. They exchange looks with each other and start going through any conflicts this may raise, or issues with doing this way. I feel a spark go off in Kandomere and he snaps his finger. "That's it.." he says. "There's a spare cell near the wash bays, its used as a storage…we can have it emptied and put his ass in there and lock it. That's perfect!" He turns to me.

I'm already nodding, "Take me to see that cell, I want an idea of where I'll be standing and which way I need to go to get out." He nods in agreement, and tells Monte to bring Red some food downstairs from the small deli store that's oddly conveniently attached next door.

"Bring him something to eat. Keep him entertained until we get this cell cleaned out." Kandomere says. The three of us leave while two of Kandomere's hands walk into the interrogation room to watch Red.

A few minutes later Kandomere and I walk into the bay on the far right, it happened to be empty. In the back corner was a metal-bar door that led to a hidden room, that they currently used as a junk room that had been forgotten about.

He made a phone call and paced around the bay. He ended his phone call and we talked back and forth about what we were gonna do for a few minutes before a few cops came walking up to the bay, one of them carrying a bolt cutter. Kandomere showed them what he needed done and they got on opening it and getting all the junk out and arranging it to make a barrier between him and the opening of the bay. It gave me and Red the privacy he unfortunately requested.

Just under an hour later, I've been asked to wait inside. Then an armored truck pulls up and two cops jump out of the side while the driver and passenger stay in the truck. The cops come to the back and unlock the door. The other stands guard over him. He escorts Red to the cell, where he gets in and the door is locked behind him.

Kandomere comes back to get me and he walks to me to the spot. I'm not sure why I felt nervous all of a sudden. Maybe because this is what we need to finally lock this guy away.

There's a small chair and folding table about 10 feet away from the cell's door. I sit in the chair, eyeing him. I give Kandomere a look when he squeezes my shoulder, standing over me. I nod at him, feeling the nervous radiating from him. He gives Red one last glare before walking out. He ushers everyone back out of earshot and I turn and I'm suddenly face to face with Rozoth Red.


	25. Chapter 25

****Chapter 25****

 _[[omg yall are incredible! Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows!_

 _I deeply apololgize for the brief hiatus, I've had a lot going on lately that needed my attention._

 _All is well now, so I thought I'd publish this chapter to get your weekend to a good start!_

 _Thanks again and enjoy! -HCB]]_

He's looking at me, studying my face. I'm not sure what to ask first, even though Kandomere made sure I had a list of questions to ask him. I turn on the recording device and get him to state his name and the basics. He cooperates, unimpressed.

I'm looking down at the papers in my hand, and he says "Did we get the boring shit out of the way yet? I want to talk to YOU…"

This guy didn't want to talk to cops, so I have to be myself as much as possible.

I nod, "Yea I think so. Why do you want to talk to me specifically?" I ask, but I already knew.

"Just wanted to meet the person who had the balls to come face to face with me." He says.

"You've been talking to federal agents for a few days now, what's different with me?" I ask him.

"One, you aren't a fed. Two, just because they sit in front of me at a table doesn't mean they've come face to face. You've connected with me, literally. I'm a really nice person once you get to know me." he says, nonchalantly.

"Okay, what happened the other day is nothing short of a mistake, and I assure you it won't happen again. However, I'm here and ready to get this over with, just like you are." I tell him.

"Here's the thing. I ask you a question, and if you answer it-I'll answer one of yours." he says.

I look over at Kandomere, who is having a really tough time NOT coming over here. He may not be near us, but he's got a very small microphone hidden in the junk barrier. I see Monte put his hand on Kandomere's shoulder and says something to him.

I nod at Red and he nods back. "Alright. Deal. Ask away." I tell him.

He doesn't miss a beat, and I can feel his body radiating his motivation and excitement, but his face is straight-hiding it all.

"What are you..you aren't human." He asks, looking directly into my eyes, giving me the window I need to reach into him.

"I am mostly human. There's a bit of me that's changing into something else, but I'm not sure exactly what just yet." I tell him, not wanting to give him too much details. I glance over at Kandomere and he's nodding his head, approving my response to Red.

I look back at him, and he's still looking at me, thinking.

"Now it's my turn to ask." I say, my tone shifting a bit. I hold up a paper with pictures of all his alleged victims so he can see them. "Did you murder these people?" I ask.

He looks at every one of their photos, silently. If he doesn't answer the question I've been instructed by Kandomere to get up and leave immediately. After a few seconds his eyes move to the ground.

"Yes." he says, clearly enough for the recording to pick it up.

I can feel excitement coming from where Kandomere is standing, but I don't look over at him. I was focused on Red. There was nothing there when he said yes. He was completely empty.

Then he looks back up at me, "Why aren't you afraid of me?" he asks.

"Because you're just another person. Sure you've done some bad shit, but you're still just a person. I'm just here trying to figure out what and why." I tell him casually as I look down at the next question.

-2hours later-

I'm inside in the break room, sitting at the small round table. My hands loosely wrapped around a mug of coffee that I haven't taken a sip from. I was in a daze, completely lost in thought about what I had just done. I don't know how long I was sitting like that, until a hand resting on my shoulder pulls me out of it, startling me. I turn and see Nick and I release the breath I didn't know I was holding. He grabs my hand, pulling me to stand up. My arms instinctively went around his neck and he pulled me against him. I realized as he held me how emotionally exhausted I was.

"Hey, you okay?" He asks.

I nod but don't say anything because I don't have the energy. Between reaching inside Red while processing his confessions alone had me beat. Going over all of it again with Kandomere had drained whatever was left. He pulls back a bit and looks at me, his hand under my chin.

"Yeah let's get you home. You need to rest." he holds me and walks with me out of the break room towards the exit. Kandomere comes out of a room and catches up to us, out of breath from trying to hide his excitement. "Aella!"

Nick sighs and turns around.

"I'm sorry, I know you're ready to go. Aella you did it. All of his confessions checked out. He's being transported to processing until the hearing in a few days. This asshole is finally off the streets, and we wouldn't have done it without you. You've more than earned your spot on my team if you'd like. But for now, take a few paid days off. Rest up, think about my offer, and I hope to see you as a member of my team" Kandomere says, holding his hand out. I look up at Nick and a fire of excitement ignited inside him, but it wasn't for this. There was something else there.

"Well, babe?…." Nick says. I look back at Kandomere's hand, then back up at his face. I grab his hand and heard a collective sigh in the room. Kandomere smiles and even his sharp little elf teeth are white and perfect. "Have a good night Aella, and Officer Jakoby." Kandomere says.

He nods and we leave the station towards the hotel.

I'm laying on the bed and Nick is taking my boots and socks off.

"I'm ordering us some sandwiches to be delivered" he says, looking up at me. I'm nodding in and out of sleep so all I managed to get out was a small "mmhm."

He smiles and unbuttons my pants and slides them off me. He wasn't doing it seductively, but more protective. He covered me up and as he kissed my forehead I fell asleep.

Nick POV

Aella fell asleep immediately after tucking her in. I'll wait a few minutes before putting more of her flowers dust in her lip again.

I shower and attempt to wash away the day I've had. Once I'm dry, I slide on boxers ans a pair of sweats. I sit at the foot of the bed rubbing lotion all over my face, suddenly Aella's soft little arms slide around my waist from behind me. Her skin is warmer than usual, and she doesn't smell like herself at all. I turn to look at her and her face is at my shoulders, dropping kisses towards my neck. She looks up at me and her entire eye is black. I stand up immediately and she's confused, looking at me.

Her face saddens and she whispers to come back.

"Aella your eyes…." I tell her. "Go look at your eyes…"

She gets up and goes to the mirror. She sees herself and stares, her face blank.

"Is something wrong babe?" I ask her, going to her. She's blinking and rubbing her eyes.

She doesn't respond to my question but I can tell she doesn't know whether to be fascinated or terrified. "Were you sleeping?" I ask her, looking for clues.

"I was asleep and I felt you…" she said, turning around to look at me. "You're worried about something and it woke me up so I wanting to comfort you."

"Baby I'm fine, I just had a long day is all. I'm more worried about you now" I tell her.

"Well it doesn't hurt…and I am still tired. I guess I'll go back to bed." she says, slumping back under the sheets. She blinks slowly a few times and then dozes off again.

I climb into bed next to her and try to sleep.

The next morning the sun was well above sunrise when I woke. Aella wasn't in the bed.

I sit up, listening, smelling for clues to where she went. A piece of paper was sitting on the dresser by the mirror. I get up and see that's it a note in Aella's handwriting:

 _ _In the pool__

 _ _Come join me when you wake up__

Normally I'd have declined, but a swim in the pool with Aella sounded great after the week we've both had. I look out the window down to the pool area, and I see her swimming from one end to the other. When she gets to the end of the pool she sits on the edge and is messing with something at her side. I focus in on her and she moves it into her lap. She plucks a few petals from her orange flowers and puts them into the water while gently kicking her feet to spread the dust. After a few minutes she gets back into the water and swims again. My phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer when I see that it's an unknown number

"Hello, may I speak with Mr…..Nicholas Jakoby?" the woman on the line says.

"..yea that's me, who's this?"

"Hi Mr. Jakoby, this is Lila from the humane society just calling to let you know that Poppy is ready to go home!" She says in her bubbly excited voice.

"Oh! Right…um… I haven't yet gotten to finish completing the other half of my plan, which will only be in a few days, is it okay to come get her in a few days?…" I ask, not expecting them to agree. I quickly start coming up with a quick backup plan until I hear her:

"Oh of course! I'll hold her for another 7 days to give you time to get your home situated, we want the welcome home day to be as perfect as possible. But don't wait too long Mr. Jakoby, Poppy is very popular!" she says, annoyingly chipper.

"Thank you Lila, I'll see you in a few days." I say quickly to get off the phone with that insanity-inducing voice.

I end the call and wonder if that's one of those fake voices people use when talking to thing they called when Aella wasn't in the room. Keeping this secret is hard enough as it is, there was no way I'd be able to blatantly lie to her face.

I change into my swim trunks and went down to the pool with a towel, phone, and badge.

I sit on one of the blue mesh reclining lawn chairs with they have by the pool and watch her swim underwater towards my end of the pool. As she comes up she sees me and her eyes light up. She pulls herself out of the pool and I walk over and sit next to her. I immediately notice that her skin, in the spots where water was sitting, had a small rainbows from the water and light catching her microscopic scales. I bet she glowed underwater. She smiles suddenly, she's looking at my eyes.

"What…" I ask her. She shakes her head, still smiling.

"You were looking at my skin and I felt your chest get warm." She says, almost bashful.

"You….you felt that?" I asked, confused. Her hand goes to my chest.

"Mmhm. I can feel you love me…" she says, but her voice softens at the end, as if she realized what she said from speaking into words.

"You're also hiding something….but…it doesn't feel bad…"she says, her eyes wandering in thought. Then her eyes come back to me wide, "That's a surprise!….What are you gonna do?" she says, suddenly very excited.

I cannot lie to her, so making something up is out of the question.

I sigh. "You will find out soon. I promise." I tell her, biting my tongue to keep from saying more.

She squints and I'm suddenly worried that she can read minds and she'll find out what it is…

"Okay. I hope it's soon. I don't like surprises, and I hate waiting." she says, and slips back into the water. She goes over to her flowers again, pulling the last 2 petals off and grinds them into dust and spreading them in the water.

 _ _She used them all?__

She turns to me, "get in with me!" she says, half pleading.

I stand up and sigh at her. If I wanted to swim with her, I'd have to eventually get in this cold as water. I walk down the steps and realize that the water is warm. It's an outdoor heated pool. Aella giggles when she sees my realization unfold in front of her.

"No, it isn't cold. It feels amazing…" she says, floating onto her back, her arms straight out beside her.

I walk in until the water went to my chest, if I keep walking I'll go underwater. Orcs don't float very well. Aella being a fey floating in her own pixie dust makes her float and glide through the water like she's a Regal Tang. She swims over to me, and wraps her legs around my waist and hugs me. My arms slide around her and hold her as if she was cold. I feel a heavy sigh escape her and her body relaxed a bit.

"So, when do you think you'll be ready to go back home?" I ask her, gently. I wasn't rushing her at all, but I needed an idea of when I'd be going to get Poppy.

"umm…..we can go visit the house today and see how I feel. If I'm not ready then I'll stay here a few more days. If I am ready then we'll come back and get our things and go home." she says casually.

I nod. "That's a good idea." agreeing with her.

She backs up a bit, ending the hug. She smiles at me and inhales deeply before sinking underwater and swimming away. I head back to the steps to sit down while she swims about.

I start thinking about how to set up her surprise when I hear my phone ring on the chair. I get to my phone just as it stops ringing, and I see that it was Dorghu. I call him back.

"Hey, I'm in the pool with Aella…" I tell him

"No it's all good brother, just letting you know that the house is ready to go." He says.

I look back at Aella, who's still in the water but swimming towards me.

"Alright, copy that. Good news. We'll be visiting the house today, so you're right on time. But I need a favor…." I tell him, hoping he accepts.

"Yea what's going on" He asks.

I lower my voice so Aella doesn't hear. "Can you go get Poppy? Kandomere gave her a week off, and I also took a few days off so she's gonna be at my side the whole time and-" I start, but Dorghu doesn't let me finish.

"Yea I can do that." He says. I sigh in relief and we end the call right as Aella walks up beside me.

"Everything okay?" she says, grabbing her towel.

"Yea, just Dorghu reaching out. Checking in on everything." I tell her, being vague enough to not be lying to her. "What about you…how are you feeling?" I ask her.

She sighs and leans against me, her arms slide around my neck. "I feel better. Putting the flowers in the water helped a lot." she explains to me while she stares at my lips.

"How did you know how to do that?" I asked her.

She shrugged and said it came to her while she was sleeping, and it worked. She uses her finger to turn my chin and face her. She catches my bottom lip in a hard kiss, my tusk just catching her lip. Neither of us notice until I taste blood on her kisses, and I pull back. I see the bottom left of her lip has a bead of blood sitting on it. She's wondering why I'm looking at her, and I'm wondering how she didn't feel that. But what was stopping me the most, was that her blood tasted sweet. It didn't taste metallic. Before I could say anything she brings her lips back to mine, and keeps kissing me. I taste it again, but stronger this time. It tastes as if she has honey running through her veins, but with the normal viscosity of blood, and it tastes familiar. I pull back again and I can see her eyes starting to glaze. I pull back completely, breaking the hug and tell her "let's go upstairs…" before she can object.

On the way up she says that she's suddenly starving. I agree with her, but I'm not wanting food. The sweet of her blood was still lingering on my tongue, and my chest ached to taste it again. It made me uncomfortable for it to be familiar and I not remember from where.

We get to the room and it's cool, quiet, and the curtains are pulled so it isn't bright.

"I'm gonna jump in the shower while you order us chinese food." she says, matter of factly. She walks in the bathroom and turns on the shower. I take off my shoes and order our usual chinese foods through a delivery app. I hear the shower running, and suddenly get the urge to be in the shower with her, touching and holding her. I take off my shorts and walk into the bathroom and I hear her making noises like she's whispering. She continues until she hears me walking in.

"Babe?" she calls.

I slide open the back of the curtain and peek in, eyeing her curvy soapy body. She sees my eyes following the curves of her body.

"Well get in, don't just stare…" she says. So I step in and I pretend not to see her eyes watch my body as I closed the curtain behind me. When I turn back to her, she's standing right up against me, her hands sliding up my chest. She looks around at my chest as if she can see through the skin. She releases a breath as she says "whoa…what's __that?"__

"What.." I say, not knowing what she's referring to.

"It feels like you're craving something, like you're hungry. But it isn't hunger, it's deeper. Well….lower-OH…" her cheeks turn red and she smiles up at me: half cute, half sinister. She turns and continues washing her body, but her hands are moving slower, her eyes burning at me.

I grab her hips and pull her back against me, nuzzling my face into her neck. I inhale her scent and suddenly it all came together. This was the smell that I couldn't place before. It was her blood.


	26. Chapter 26

****Chapter 26****

[[thanks for reading! The upload i did last night glitched somehow and uploaded a chapter

that was already published, so here is the correct chapter!

Sorry if this one is a bit short, 27 will be up soon!]]

 _**Warning: If you do not like smut, please don't read**_

Aella turns around suddenly, her face worried. "Nick, what's wrong?" she asked me, her tone low.

I shake my head, because I don't know how to explain to her that I can smell her blood through her skin, and I am __not__ going to explain to her that her blood is fucking delicious.

..But…there's this rock that sits in my throat if I even think about lying to her.

"Is everything okay?" she says again, softly.

I nod and look at her lip, which is no longer bleeding but hasn't completely healed. I close my eyes before I speak because I do not want to see the look on her face.

"Aella your blood…it smells different. I can smell it when I'm very close to you. And earlier when you were kissing me, your lip was bleeding a little but before I could say anything you were already kissing me. But your blood is sweet." I open my eyes but I keep my eyes on the floor of the shower, watching her feet, focusing on anything but her reactions.

"Wait…what?!" she says, more out of confusion than anything else.

I look at her, and she's deep in thought but looking at me.

"Your blood. It tastes sweet. Like honey…" I explain to her.

She realizes what I've said, and then lifts her arm to her nose and inhales. She doesn't react, but looks at me shaking her head; "I don't smell anything."

"You're huma-well….mostly human. Your sense of smell isn't as strong as an orc's." I tell her.

She nods, then looks at her arm and hands again like she's contemplating.

"You aren't creeped out that I think your blood is delicious?" I ask cautiously.

She shakes her head, still focused on her shimmering skin.

"Would it taste the same to me?" she wonders out loud.

"I don't know. But don't make yourself bleed just to find out." I tell her.

Her eyes wander while she thinks. I wash the front of my body with a soapy loofah and hand it to her so she can do my back. She washes my back but I can tell that her focus is elsewhere. I turn around and gently grab her chin, to bring her focus to me. I bring my mouth to hers, gently. The urge I felt before I joined her in the shower started creeping back and I pulled her against me while she deepened her kisses. My hand slid down her wet back and she whispers against my lips:

"How are we able to stand naked and not want to tear into each other?" she continues to kiss me. A growl rose from my chest as she bit my bottom lip.

"I'm not sure but you're making it harder and harder…" I said.

"yea I am….." she says, looking down. I realize what she meant and I chuckle at her.

"Come on, let's go to the bed…" I tell her, and turn off the shower. I wrap the towel around my waist and walk to the bed as she dries off. She emerges from the bathroom completely naked and dry, her dark red hair damp and wavy. I turn to see her and I'm stunned into silence because she bends over to get on the bed, but she does it extra seductively on purpose.

I walk over to the bed and she turns over and gets on her knees to kiss me. I pull her against me and my hands roam her soft curves. Her hands slide down my chest to my towel and she pulls it off. I take a few steps back away from the bed.

Her face turns into a frown and I'm not sure I can handle it.

"Aella I want to wait." I tell her, gently pleading.

She does a cute whiny moan and says "but I want you…."

I don't move, I'm contemplating. She gets off the bed and walks over to me, getting to her knees. Before I could stop her, she grabs my dick and slides it into her mouth. Feeling her hot, wet, small mouth was my current kryptonite, and she was so good at it. I could not deny her anything when she did this to me, and I think she's figured that out. She starts moving her head up and down my shaft, going longer as my erection grew. I gently grab her hair and guide her while gently thrusting with her. My head slowly tilts back and I feel my legs want to give out.

I reach down and pull her up. We go to the bed and I lay on my back in the middle. She gets on the bed on her hands and knees and gets back between my legs, continuing to give me head. After several minutes of trying to hold back, I feel a tug I wont be able to hold. I look down at her.

"I'm gonna come.." I say between breaths, a low growl in my chest. She bobbed her head faster and used her lips to catch the tip of my dick when she was at the top. I couldn't hold back anymore. She stayed on me, so I held her head and thrust gently while I felt myself come in her mouth. My low growl releasing with my moans. She was moaning as well, and only now did I notice one of her hands was rubbing herself. She brought that hand back up to my dick to keep rubbing it, and notice her fingers are shiny and wet.

She bobbed her head again, taking advantage of me still being hard. I sat up and pulled her aside, laying her down on her back. I got my knees and pulled her knees apart, exposing her delicious wet folds between her legs. I brought my mouth to them, sliding my tongue inside and up her slit. Her body relaxed and she released a soft moan before covering her mouth with her hand.

"It's okay love, you don't have to be quiet…" I tell her. She slowly slides her hand from her mouth, she's breathing hard. I bring my mouth back down to her and resume french kissing her wet pussy. She starts shivering and her hands go to my head, pulling me into her. Her head tilts back on the pillow, her wet hair splayed around her head. My hands wrap around her thighs and I guide her hips. Her moans get more deliberate and her legs twitch every few seconds. After a few minutes of sucking her clit, I gently slide a finger into her dripping pussy. She loves it…I thrust it slowly so I don't hurt her. While I'm thrusting my finger in and out of her, she grinds against me.

The way she felt inside…hot, tight, and very slippery. Made it hard to resist pushing my dick into her. She looks down at me and whispers between moans: "Nick please.."

My body got very hot all of a sudden, and the cravings I felt for her took over.

I sat up on my knees and grabbed her thighs to pull her closer to me. She wrapped her legs around me while I rubbed my cock against her pussy, slowly pushing it in, not wanting to hurt her.

I watched her face as I thrust into her, her eyes closed and mouth open. My hand goes to her throat, and I move my thumb into her mouth. She takes it willingly, sucking on my thumb. I move that hand to her waist and hold her still while I start thrusting and grinding into her. Her moans get louder and turn into screams. Feeling her and hearing her screams overwhelmed me, and I laid over her putting my face into her neck. She brought her arms around my neck, and held onto me. I watched her face as I fucked her, making sure I wasn't going too hard or hurting her. I was fighting the urge to hold her down and go harder and faster until I came, but she isn't an orc and I have to be gentle. I wanted her to come first. After a few minutes of pulling her against me while I thrust into her, I pull out of her and turn her over onto her belly. She whines and perks her ass up, opening her legs a little bit. With my knee, I open her legs wide and pull her hips up to me. She gasps as I slowly slide into her again.

My hand goes to the back of her neck and I gently push her down into the bed as I thrust into her, a little harder than before and I start picking up the pace.

I've only done this position two other times, but never has it felt as amazing as it does with her. I feel her relax and open up a bit suddenly, allowing me to go deeper. Her breaths are now short and shallow, her body tensing up. "oh god don't stop" she whispers between her moans and panting. I hold onto her hips to keep her steady and I thrust deeper into her, starting to feel a tug in my groin. Then her body tenses up and spasms while my cock is being squeezed from the inside. Her screams combined with her suddenly very hot and gushy insides took over me and I released myself into her, my fingers gripping onto her hips. I stop thrusting and our bodies relaxed at the same time, but I held myself up with one arm so I didn't let my whole weight squash her. Her eyes were closed and she was still breathing hard. I slowly pull myself from her and lay next to her catching my breath. Besides falling in love with her again, I hate myself for not being able to control myself. I only had a few more days to wait. I look down and see my throbbing shining cock, slowly relaxing down to normal. Aella hasn't moved at all, and her breaths are steady. I slide my hand down her back, and leave a kiss on her shoulder.

I go into the bathroom to clean myself up and just as I'm sliding on my shorts, a knock comes at the door. I grab my gun and silently walk to the door to look through the peep-hole.

I completely forgot that i had ordered food.

I set the gun down and open the door to a small-framed guy holding a white plastic bag tied at the top. His eyes grow wide when he sees it's me at the door. I grab the bag and he nervously says "have a good day, sir.." before quickly walking away.

A few hours later we're in my truck, driving towards Aella's house. With everything going on it feels like we haven't been to her house in a long time. I hoped she can handle being there after what happened. I think surprising her with Poppy will help a lot. Dorghu had sent me a message less than an hour ago saying he was at her house and everything was ready. Aella had already woken up and eaten so it didn't take us long before heading out the door. She thought we were just going back to the house to check if she was ready to go back in there.

She was silent the whole ride, looking out her window but couldn't stop fiddling with her hands. She was bad at hiding her nervousness, and that's not including her scent getting heavy with nervousness the closer we got. I lay my hand on hers and she grabs my hand with both of hers, holding onto it. She doesn't look over at me, but her lip trembles and she clenches her jaw to keep from crying.

"Baby…relax. If you aren't ready, then we won't do this. I don't mind waiting with you, and I don't mind staying in a hotel with you." I tell her, starting to slow down so I can pull over.

She shakes her head. "No. We need to do this. I have to get through this." she says firmly, looking over at me. Her eyes weren't the blue I was used to. There was a black veil over her eyes and a no color to her cheeks, making her look ominous. I've never seen her face like this, and I didn't like it very much. She looks back out her window and keeps holding my hand.

 _ _I really hope Poppy can bring her out of this.__

We turn onto the block where her house sits. As we drive up to it, her hands are tight on mine and cold. I look over at her and she's staring at the house, not blinking at all. I stop a few houses down.

"Aella…." I start, but she cuts me off.

"Nick. Get to my house." she says, flat.

I coast until I get to her house and I pull into her driveway as she wonders who's truck sits parked on the curb. I get out of the truck and go around to the other side. I don't bother turning it off because if she isn't ready to be here, I want to get away quickly. I open her door and she takes my hands and slowly slides out of the truck into my arms, and I set her down. I kiss her forehead, and she's clammy and cold.

"Baby you feel terrible, are you sure you're okay to do this?" I ask her.

"Yea, I gotta do this." She says, her words not flinching or hesitating at all. I shut the door and as soon as I move next to her, holding her hand she stops. Her face looks up at her house and the dark veil lifts. She inhales a few times, like she smells something…feels something.  
She watches the front door open and her jaw drops.

Dorghu emerges, holding a small solid black puppy. He walks down the steps and puts the puppy down, who starts flopping around on the grass as happy as can be. Aella walks forward and the puppy sees her, and starts clumsily running at her with her ears flopping around her head.

Aella gets to her knees and Poppy launches himself at her knocking them both down onto the grass. I run to Aella, who's hugging Poppy and laughing as tears are sliding down her face. Her tears cause her skin to have a rainbow glow on her face as Poppy licks her, her whole body wagging and wiggling in excitement.

I watch and laugh at them both when Dorghu slaps his hand onto my shoulder, standing beside me.

"Yea, you were right. That was worth it. The house is ready to go, let me know if you need anything else." He says, and walks off towards his truck parked on the curb. I nod at him and continue watching Aella and Poppy. She looks up at me, smiling. She gets to her feet and throws herself into my arms, hugging me tighter than usual. She kisses me all over my face, but slows when she gets to my lips, her hand on my cheek.

"Thank you Nick. I'm not sure where I'd be without you." she says, and kisses me again. Poppy starts barking at our feet, standing up on her two legs to get our attention.

I set Aella down and she picks her up.

"Aella, meet Poppy." I tell her. She looks at me, shocked.

"Ohhhh that's the perfect name!" she says, spinning in a circle with the puppy in her arms.

I go up the steps and open the door to the house, taking a look inside. Dorghu and his guys cleaned up her house. Got rid of the stained carpet and laid out completely new carpet. He gave her new furniture for her living room. In every room, is a small colored pot of her orange flowers. She walked into the house slowly, taking everything in. She noticed the carpets immediately, and then noticed that all of her living room furniture was replaced with slightly bigger couches and chairs. Poppy was in her arms, but no longer wiggling around. She was licking Aella or looking around the room, sniffing as well. Aella set her down and she walked into the kitchen, Poppy at her heels. Her kitchen was the same, but had been cleaned. She turned towards the hall and I walked over to her. I hugged her from behind and kissed her shoulder. Poppy trots down the hallway, sniffing the baseboards at every door. She looks up at Aella while wagging her tail. She comes running back towards Aella barking at her. Aella picks her up and walks down the hallway into her bedroom. I follow and she stops at the door. There was a different bed in place of the one she had. This one was bigger and had a lot of pillows and a thick comforter laying on top. She turns around to me and hugs me. Her face goes into my chest and she starts crying. I wrap my arms around her.

"What's wrong, love?" I ask her softly.

She sniffs and looks up at me, "I love it. I love all of it. This is the nicest thing anyone's done for me. I don't deserve you, Nick. I love you…" I bring my mouth to hers and she deepens the kiss.

I set her down and she turns around sighing, taking it all in again. She nods.

"Yea, I'm ready to come home." she says, going into her room. She picks up Poppy and gets on the bed.

"I'll go get our things from the hotel, you stay here and relax." I tell her. She looks back at me smiling.

"Okay." she says, while playing with Poppy. I walk out of her house, leaving her with the alone time she needs.

Back at the hotel I'm gathering our things. A very urgent knock comes from the door. As I walk to the door with my gun drawn, I hear Kandomere's voice on the other side of the door.

"Officer Jakoby…Aella…..It's Kandomere, I really need to see you, please open the door."

I open the door, putting my gun away. Kandomere, and three of his swat guys are at the door.

He rushes in, "Where's Aella?"

"She's at her house. I took her by earlier and she's okay to go back so I came back to get our things and check out of the hotel." I tell him, picking up the smell of his nervous. Before I could even ask, he answered me.

"We need to get back to Aella now, I'll leave someone here to gather your things and take them to her place..." He stammers. "…Rozoth Red was being transported to the prison..a-an….and somehow he escaped, Nick. We need to get back to Aella."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

-Sorry for the mishap with Chapter 27! Should be working now...

[[disclaimer: Ch 27 contains a huge lemon]]

Thanks for reading! 3

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I didn't say anything else, I was already running down the hallway.

I speed back to Aella's house, and halfway to her house a few police squad cars slide in front of me with their lights and sirens blaring, escorting me. We get back to the house and I pull into the driveway a little too fast, and I slide into the yard on my brakes. I jump out of the truck not caring about stopping the engine or shutting the door. I bust inside, almost tearing the door down because it was locked. I rush into Aella's room and she's laying in her bed, asleep with Poppy laying against her.

I lean against the wall and catch my breath as my adrenaline slows. She stirs and sits up, worry fills her face as soon as she sees me.

"Babe, what's wrong?" she says, half asleep. She scoots off the bed and walks to me, sliding her arms around my waist.

"Rozoth Red was being transported to prison and he escaped somehow. They can't find him so we rushed back here as fast as possible." I explain to her, catching my breath.

"Oh shit. I haven't heard anything since you left. I was playing with Poppy and I guess I fell asleep." She looks back at Poppy who is now sitting up, ears perked forward like she's waiting on an instruction.

She looks back at me, "You said 'we'? Who else is here?" she asks, picking up Poppy.

We hear a knock on the door. I turn off the lights and pull my gun from my pants. I turn off lights as I go towards the door. I look out the front door realizing it's still open, and Kandomere is standing there. I had forgotten that they followed.

"I didn't want to just barge in. Is she okay?" He asks, looking inside.

I nod, "Yea, I woke her up when I charged into the house. Said she hasn't heard anything." I say.

I turn on the light and invite in Kandomere only. There were a few cops and swat guys standing around the yard but I don't know them enough to invite them into Aella's house.

Aella comes from the hallway, Poppy flopping along at her feet.

"What happened?" she asks Kandomere. Kandomere gives me a look and I walk away into the living room so he can fill her in on details. He couldn't reveal sensitive information about the case in front of me, so I sat on the couch while gently playing with Poppy.

A little over 30 minutes later I'm in the kitchen pouring myself a cup of coffee when Kandomere comes in the kitchen from Aella's room. His tone is different from when I talked to him at the hotel, he sounds normal and calm now.

"I've suggested that you both get out of town for a bit, but Aella is refusing." he says.

I turn to look at him and I can hear Aella's laughter coming from her bedroom. I stay silent while looking at him so I know he hears it too.

"Did you ask her why she doesn't want to leave?" I ask him.

His brows come together in a bit of confusion. "No, I didn't. I hadn't considered anything really, I just want to keep her out of harm's way." he says staring at me, and I pick up a slight dig at me in his comment.

"We won't be leaving again. Leave a few armed guards here to watch over the house if you must. She's got the whole damn station on speed dial " I tell him.

He doesn't say anything, but continues to look at me. Slowly he gets closer to me, just a few inches from my face, and in his lowest voice says, "Aella is a very important, beautiful, and special person Officer Jakoby. I hope you are taking the necessary measures to keep her safe. I would hate to see her run to someone else for safety." he says.

I don't hear Aella's laughter anymore, instead I hear her footsteps coming toward the kitchen. I'm staring back at Kandomere not budging.

She comes into the kitchen and pauses when she sees us, asking "What's going on?"

She comes over and Kandomere takes a few steps back before turning and leaving the kitchen.

"What was that about?" she asks me, but I don't answer yet. I listen for Kandomere, making sure he leaves. I hear his footsteps exit, followed by the gentle slam of the front door.

"He doesn't think I can keep you safe." I say out loud, going to the sink to pour out the coffee I no longer had a thirst for. "He wants us to leave again, and hide somewhere else." I finish.

She grabs my hand, pulling me towards her. I turn and she wraps her arms around my neck.

"Nick I've never felt unsafe with you. As long as you're here, I know I'll be okay." she says softly, looking at me.

"I don't know. I can't even control _myself_ around you." I said, getting more upset.

"What? What's that mean?" she says, confused.

With all of today's new events, there's no way I was going to be able to carry out my plans for surprising her. The most important one, Poppy, was successful, but I wasn't done. And most of that is my fault for giving in to her earlier today, and I hate myself for it. And now this. Kandomere doesn't know details of what's happened to Aella, he only sees all the stuff going wrong.

Her hand is on my chest, her face filling with worry again.

"Nick, what's wrong? There's something else bugging you…" she asks, but I shake my head and try to focus on other things. I cover her hand with mine, sighing.

"What do you want to do since you don't want to leave?" I ask her, still holding her hand on my chest.

"Call Dorghu and have him put some guys here. I'll trust him before some of these city cops. I'm not going to leave my house, I just got back." she says, and walks out of the kitchen.

I pull my phone out of my pocket but before I could do anything, it starts ringing. Dorghu's name lights up the screen.

"Can you read minds?" I ask him when I answer the phone.

"I'm on my way back, don't leave." he says quickly, and ends the call.

I tuck my phone back into my pocket as Aella comes around the corner with Poppy in her arms. She grabs my hand and pulls me along with her down the hall into her bedroom. She sets Poppy on the floor who start running around the room. She takes off her shoes as I sit on the bed, rubbing my face with my hands. She comes over to me and lifts my face with her hand under my chin, and brings her lips to mine. She stands between my legs trying to take my shirt off, but I stop her.

"No, Dorghu will be here in a few minutes." I tell her, causing her to sigh.

"Why? He isn't taking Poppy back is he?" She asks.

I chuckle at her. "No, he isn't going to take her back love. She's yours. He probably forgot something. She's more worried about Dorghu taking her puppy than a murderous orc being on the loose. A murderous orc who favored Aella. I bring her closer to me, nuzzling my face into her neck. I inhale her scent and hug her tight against me until I can smell the sweet undertones of her blood, then it hits me. He can smell her blood.

 _Of course he can smell her blood, he's a murderous bastard. He probably sees her like a fucking honey flavored popsicle._

I stand and feel the bottom of my pants being tugged on but I don't pay any attention because of my realization.

"Aella. I don't think it's a good idea to be around other orcs…they can smell your blood. And I don't know who can or can't control themselves…" she looks up at me concerned as I tell her this.

"What do you mean?" she asks, picking Poppy up from the floor.

I look in her eyes, "Red may be after you because of the way you smell."

She thinks this over and sits on the bed.

"Well now it all makes sense. But….how do we know he didn't skip town and disappear to avoid prison?" she asks.

"We don't know. Not yet anyway. Until then, we need to figure out how to keep you safe. When Dorghu gets here we're going to come up with a plan to keep you safe." I tell her.

As if on cue, a hard knock comes from the door. She runs to her side of the bed and pulls her gun from her nightstand, nodding at me. I walk through the hall to the front door and see Dorghu's peep-hole distorted face looking up at the light on the porch. I put my gun away and let him in.

He comes in without hesitation, and shuts the door behind him. "Where is she?" he says, looking behind me, around me through the house.

I'm standing between him and Aella, and I don't know what his intentions are.

"What do you need, Dorghu?" I ask him cautiously and he gives me the 'are-you-serious' face.

"Nick, I just need to know that she's okay. I got word that Red escaped and I'm not risking it. I'm staying here with her." he says.

I start to shake my head but before I could get a word out he continues, "It's not up for debate. The only other person I trust with her, is you. And you work, a lot. So while you're at work, I'll be here with her, keeping her safe." he explains.

I chew on my lip while mulling it over when I see Dorghu's attention shift from me to Aella entering the room. She sees that he's inside so she comes straight to him and hugs him, no fear at all.

"Thank you for everything. The house looks stunning, and Poppy is perfect. You're amazing for all of this, Dorghu." she says. He gently hugs her back and tells her she's very welcome. I see his pupils dilate as his nostrils flare, and he looks at her as she ends the hug.

"Dorghu there's something you need to know about Aella." I tell him.

He stays staring at her, but responds to me with "yea?"

Aella realizes what I'm about to tell him so she says "I'm…uh…gonna go get some drinks." As she walks into the kitchen Dorghu's eyes follow her.

"I'm guessing you think she smells good?" I tell him.

He nods and looks over at me. "Yea…she does. What is it?" he asks.

"Because of what she is, her blood is different. Orcs can smell it, and I'm not sure who else can. I don't want to risk it, either. It's also the reason I think Red may be after her." His eyes widened a bit as he also realizes what I've told him. He nods and says "Alright."

"Dorghu I need to know that you can keep her from Red. He's a big fuckin-" I start explaining but he doesn't let me finish.

"Nick, I assure you, she isn't going to be safer with anyone else. Especially not a cop." He says.

He looks around the house and asks, "Speaking of which, where's your other girlfriend?"

I look at him, confused. "Who? Aella is my only…."

His straight face tells me I missed something. "Ward. Your partner. Where is your partner?"

"OH…..he's …..I'm not sure. He took a few days off to be with his family, and I didn't want to bug." I tell him. He nods and says "So he doesn't know anything?"

I think about it for a few seconds, and then shake my head. "No, he doesn't know. Should we call him?" I ask.

Dorghu nods his head saying "Yea, he needs to know. He's got a part in keeping her safe."

Then his attention is brought back towards the kitchen suddenly as Aella walks out carrying two beers. She brings them to us and we take them respectfully, then go into the living room. He sits and looks around the room while he opens his bottle. He sits drinking silently for a few moments and Aella quietly disappeared back to her bedroom.

"What a fuckin shit show." he says.

I'm calling Ward as he sits, pondering.

After a few hours one of Kandomere's guys finally dropped off our stuff from the hotel. In the wake of everything going on, I had forgotten that I left it there in the rush of getting back to Aella.

She unpacked immediately, showered, and went straight to bed not caring that it was 7pm. Ward came over with a few burgers, knowing I probably hadn't eaten.

Ward, Dorghu, and I had come up with a plan we were all comfortable with. Dorghu made a few phone calls to ensure his people held down the fort. I wasn't entirely comfortable with him staying at our place, but his ultimate goal was to keep her safe and alive and I wasn't going to disagree with his methods. One of his orc women brought a bag of things for him. He thought he hid from me but I watched him embrace the girl and kiss her forehead before she left. Ward was saying his goodbyes soon after.

After showering I got into bed with Aella but laid awake for hours before falling asleep.

The next few weeks were tense to say the least. Aella being fed up of being stuck in the house. Dorghu slowly losing his sanity at her persistence. Ward and I both switched from nights to days, and I had no choice but to postpone by main surprise for Aella. Between me and Ward working all week and balancing work and home were starting to run me down, until today.

Just after booking a suspect that was caught shoplifting at the mall, Kandomere called me.

I answered the call while walking back to the squad truck, where Ward was sitting finishing up paperwork.

"Officer Jakoby speaking…" I answer.

"Officer Jakoby, I've got an important update on Rozoth Red and I think it would be beneficial to you and Aella. If the both of you would come into my office sometime today so we could speak."

Ward and I looked at each other simultaneously.

"Oh of course, we'll be there." I tell him.

"Good." he says, and ends the call without saying or waiting for another word.

I sigh and Ward is still looking at me. "What's wrong with you and him? Seems like y'all have tension going on." he asks while driving away from the station.

"He doesn't think I can keep Aella safe." I tell him, not really wanting to admit something like that out loud…but I trusted Ward.

The ride around the beat was silent except for the occasional radio noises.

Aella POV

Between watching Netflix, playing with Poppy, and helping Kandomere as much as I can, I was just short of losing my mind. It's definitely unnerving to have a gigantic orc walking around my house, but I'd rather have him than Red. From what I can pick up from Dorghu, he's probably the best person to be here. Of course I wanted Nick to be here as well but he operated better by staying busy. I wanted to leave the house but anything I needed done would be handled by either Kandomere's hands or Dorghu's hands.

Later in the evening while I was cooking dinner, Dorghu had gotten a small cozy fire going in the fireplace. It was starting to cool off enough outside to use it. Right as dinner was finishing up Nick quickly walked in the house, and I immediately notice his urgency.

"Aella I've been trying to get ahold of you for hours, what's going on? Where's your phone?" he says.

"My phone died, it's charging….what's going on?" I ask him, reaching inside him as he explained.

He wasn't worried, he was excited about something.

"Kandomere called me today and said he's got something he wants to talk to us about. Said we need to get to the station tonight." he explains, which raises more questions than it answers.

I was about to ask why he didn't call me but immediately remembered that my phone had died.

"Alright" I tell him, walking to my bedroom for my shoes and things.

I hear him and Dorghu talking while I get my shoes on and grab my phone and wallet. I walk into the living room and Dorghu is waiting by the door with Nick.

"Dorghu you don't have to come along-" I start to tell him but he cuts me off.

"I'm going." he says, firm.

I stop and take a breath, closing my eyes.

"Dorghu, I know you want to keep me safe. I know. But we are heading straight to Kandomere's office. It isn't far and honestly I'd like a break. Keep my house safe, Nick will be with me until we get back." I tell him, not budging.

He nods. "Fine. But if you even get so much as a bad feeling, you call me."

"Deal." I tell him, and me and Nick walk to his truck.

When I sit in the truck I sigh, taking in the smell of his truck's interior. It smelled like him with a thin veil of new car smell. Most likely because I was tired of being in the house.

While driving, Nick tells me about his day and I can feel his exhaustion sitting in his chest like a boiling pot moved to the back burner of a stove.

"Hey, you need to get some rest too." I tell him, grabbing his hand.

"Nah babe. I've got you, I'll be alright now. Just a tough day at work." He says as he gently squeezes my hand.

My mouth forms a half smile because I'm not completely convinced.

"How is it going being around Dorghu all day?" He asks, a smirk on his face.

'He's fine. Doesn't bother me at all, he's on the phone a lot." I tell him. It starts raining and he turns on his headlights as the sun has already gone down. Being cooped up in the house has made me miss the sounds of rain in the car.

"I wonder if we can get him-" he starts but I interrupt him, gently.

"Baby, I don't mean to be rude but I'd like to sit here and listen to the rain. I've missed the way it sounds…" I tell him in my cute voice. He kisses the back of my hand, smiling.

"Of course, love." he says. "We can save that for after the visit with Kandomere."

 _I'm not sure what I did to deserve someone as patient as he is…._

As we pull up to the Kandomere's station, my phone rings with Dorghu's name sitting on my screen.

"Yea?" I ask.

"Hey, I'm gonna run and get some food, you don't have anything here that I'm willing to eat so I'll be gone no more than 10 minutes. Call me if you need me, okay?" he says, actually waiting for me.

"I promise to call if I feel anything is off. Go get you some food." I tell him and then we end the call.

Nick is standing on the passenger side, holding the door open for me.

"What did he want?" Nick asks me.

"Said he's going to get something to eat, should only take a few minutes.", I say as I climb out of the truck…using it to hide my nervousness.

"The house will be fine, he's got a guy posted nearby keeping an eye out." he says, his face serious.

We walk into the station and are met with Kandomere walking to us in a rush. Nick's arm went around my waist immediately, keeping me close to him. As he gets to us, he holds up a photo.

A less-than-great quality printed photo of a large orc, laying in a pool of blood. The photo was from mid-belly up, and he was wearing a soiled and ripped dark-orange jumpsuit.

I'm trying to identify him by the markings on his neck, when I feel something almost explode inside Nick. I look at him, and his eyes are wide as he looks at Kandomere.

"Is that him?" he says.

"We are working on confirmation, but we have a good chance at it being a positive match." Kandomere says, a shake in his voice from excitement and adrenaline. I feel his adrenaline's urgency tugging in his chest and he start walking back towards his office, ushering us to follow him. There were more people than usual shuffling around. The tension and anxiety hanging in the air was so thick you could almost pull it aside like a curtain to walk by. Nick held my hand as we walked, his nostrils flaring. He's smelling what I'm feeling. I'm not sure which one is worse.

I hear my name in the conversation between Kandomere and Nick and I realize that they've been talking about things and I was completely zoned out. Picking up everyone's emotions at once overwhelmed me. Kandomere closes the door behind us as we enter his office. The door being the dam to stop the flood. The silence allowed me to focus back onto the conversation. Nicks tone was a bit more chipper than it was before arriving…

"So if all the pieces fit together that its him…what are we waiting on?" Nick asked…

"We are in contact with an informant that knows exactly where he's been hiding out for the past several weeks. He's going to several of his common hide-outs to make sure, but I'm pretty confident that it's him. I couldn't recognize his face as the one I talked to while he was in the cell. To most humans, all orcs look alike but certain features about Red's face were burned into my head and I couldn't find them on the orc's face in the photo. It wasn't without difficulty to find, since the orc in the photo was beat to a pulp before his throat was cut. His face completely bloodied, swollen, and covered in scratches and abrasions. I was studying the photo while Nick and Kandomere talked.

"So while I work on closing out this case, you both head home and get the rest you deserve." he said, shaking Nick's hand.

"That's it?" I ask out loud. They both look at me. "How sure are you that this is Red?"

"Over the last few weeks following his escape, my informant has gone to every one of Red's hideouts and he isn't there. At any of them. My informant watched him as he moved from hide-out to hide-out. He never stayed at them in a pattern for us to move in ahead of time and grab him. Then this morning he gets word that he was found and beat to hell before they cut his throat. Someone anonymously sent in this photo, so I had my C.I. help me confirm this. We are still working on a location to go find and pick up the body for positive identification." Kandomere explained.

Nick turns to me, warmth glowing from his chest.

"Aella this is amazing news!" he said, getting excited.

I rarely saw Nick excited anymore, so I didn't have the heart to argue. Kandomere's leads were solid and nobody in the station, or even the state, doubted him when he was onto something. Nick held my hands and I was reaching into Kandomere as I smiled at Nick's excitement. Kandomere picked up the photo along with the other files laid out on his desk. His chest also felt warm, but I felt a thin veil of jealousy. Underneath the warmth, was a glow of accomplishment, relief. Nick's hand slid across the small of my back and he pulled me against him. Kandomere scooped up the files and walked to a file storage shelf in a small closet behind his desk.

"Come on, let's go home. I have so much to show you…" Nick whispers in my ear.

He successfully distracted me by saying that. I didn't feel any worry from Kandomere so I accepted his excitement. Nick hugged me right as my phone rang again, Dorghu's name again illuminating my screen.

"Yea?" I ask in the middle of a sigh.

"Is it true?" He asks, cutting directly to the point.

Nick nods, and I'm wondering how Dorghu knows what Kandomere has just told us. This news wasn't released to the public, and wouldn't be for another day or so.

"Yea, I'm sitting here looking at the photos. It's true." I tell him.

"Good shit. I'll head home, but I'll leave my guy nearby posted. If you or Nick need anything, you call me first." he says, failing at covering his protective tone with his "boss" voice.

"I promise to call you first Dorghu. Thanks for looking out for us." I tell him.

Kandomere checks his phone after putting the files away, not wanting to interrupt us.

I put my phone away in my pocket and slide my arms around Nick's neck.

"I'll walk you guys out" Kandomere's velvet voice broke our hug.

Nick holds my hand and leads me through the hall, out of the station, and back to the truck. Once he opens the passenger door for me, he turns me around to face him and he holds my face in his hands. He studies my face before leaning down and kissing me very gently. My hands slide up his chest, and I feel that he is still wearing his full cop uniform. I slide my leg up his and he catches it, not breaking his kiss. He looks at me and smiles.

"Not here. Not in front of where you work _._ " he says, looking back at my lips... "Let's go home, I've got a surprise for you." he finishes.

"Oh?" I ask, sarcastically. He picks me up and sets me on the passenger seat.

"I've been waiting too long to give you this." he says, smiling. Before I could ask, he shuts the door.

He comes around and gets into his seat, chuckling at my fake grumpy face.

"Give me what?" I ask him, my arms crossed.

"It's a surprise." is all he says before putting the truck in gear and driving home.

He held his tongue the whole way home. I'm not sure if I was proud of him or not.

As we pulled into the driveway at home, Nick's phone rings. Dorghu's name coming across the screen.

"Ooofff course." I say, grumbling. He puts the truck in Park and shoos me away smiling. He's gonna stay in the truck on the phone, so I go on without him. I get to the door suddenly excited to see my Poppy girl and to get into my bed again without worrying about an orc suddenly coming into my room.

I get in the door and immediately turn on the light and walk into the living room, where the fireplace still gently burns untouched. Poppy comes flopping to my feet, barking and whining. I pick her up and she licks my face and head in excitement. Nick's arms come around my waist from behind, his face going into my neck to leave small kisses. His kisses move from my neck to my ear, his arm getting tighter around me. I gently set Poppy on the couch next to me, and she immediately tried coming back to me but sat in defeat when she couldn't reach me. My hand went to Nick's head, and his fingers laced through mine. He stopped the kisses on my ears and whispers "go pack your favorite fall clothes to last a week. I've got a surprise for you."

I spin around and look at him in disbelief. "What?…..Where are we going?…I didn't want to have to leave again, we just got ba-" he cut me off by bringing his mouth to my lips, then whispers:

"I'm taking you on a trip with me. We're going to a resort on a vineyard up north. We'll be there for a few days, away from everything. Safe from everything." He steps back looking at me, smiling.

I hug him, stunned into silence. I see Poppy sitting on the end of the couch, wagging her tail at me.

"Are we taking Poppy?" I ask him.

"No, it's gonna be just you and me. Dorghu will watch her." He tells me, settling my worries.

"Okay that was easy. When do we leave?" I ask him as I hold his hand.

He looks at me while a half smile crawls up his face. "Tomorrow." he says.

My face fell, "tomorrow?!….there's so much I have to take care of…" I tell him, my mind racing.

"No, no. I've taken care of everything. Kandomere knows, Dorghu will watch Poppy and the house. Ward will come by every night and check on everything." he explains, watching the worry leave me as he talks out the plan he's somehow managed to put together in complete secrecy.

I sigh, both from relief and adoration.

"You..are so amazing. What do you have planned for us on this secret vacation of yours?" I said, hugging him. He moves us in front of his chair and he sits in it so I'm standing in front of him between his legs.

"I won't give out details but it'll have a lot to do with this view right here…." he says, smirking at me.

"Oh, really?…" I ask sarcastically. I crawl into his lap and lean down to kiss him, realizing I finally have him completely alone. His hands move to my ass and he pulls me tighter against him. He breaks our kissing and looks at me, studying my face. He brings a hand to my cheek, and his thumb runs across my bottom lip.

"Over these past several months, I've gone from wishing I could talk to you, to waking up next to you. You've grown so much just in the short time we've been together, but it feels like I've known you my whole life. I wish I _had_ known you my whole life. I know to the rest of the world you are this no-bullshit cop, but when you're with me you're a different person. There's another side of you that not many people know…and I love that. I feel like I get a special level of you that no one else has unlocked. I can't wait to see what kind of person you grow into. And I could only hope that you allow me to stay by your side through all of it, so that I too can grow into the best me." he finishes as I bring my mouth to his. He deepens the kiss as one of his arms wraps around me. I break the kiss and look at him, piecing together the words for something I'd never thought I'd say.

He rubs his thumb across my bottom lip again, staring at my mouth. I kiss his thumb….

"Only you get to see this side of me. Not everyone deserves it..."

He pulls my face back to his so he could kiss me again. He starts kissing down my neck, I feel his blunt tusks gently scraping down my neck and my breath catches in my throat. He looks at me, checking to see if he's hurt me.

He lays small kisses from my neck to my shoulder. I feel warmth pool between my legs, and he slows his kisses while I hear him deeply inhale. As he exhales, his hips grind against me while the arm around my waist pulls me down. He nuzzles my neck and keeps me pulled close while he grinds his hips against me, a low growl coming from his chest. I manage to stifle a moan.

"When we were staying at the hotel, I made the mistake of losing control of myself with you…" he whispers, pausing every several words to drop a gentle kiss before continuing…

"It was nothing short of amazing, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be. Now I have the chance to make up for my mistake, and show you what you deserve." he finishes, looking at my lips.

I feel his erection hardening, and I'm excited to finally feel him again, even if it's through clothes. He sits up straight, both arms around my back, pulling me down against him as he grinds his growing cock against my pussy. I'm biting my bottom lip, trying not to lose it. My breaths already speeding up while I remember how big he is. His grinding making it harder and harder not to moan. His lips gently rubbing against my ear.

I climb out of his lap and grab his hand to follow me. He stands and his uniform pants were terribly failing at hiding his growing erection.

"Jeez…" I say, not realizing I said it out loud.

"Huh?" he says, then looks down at his suddenly tight pants.

"Come on, let's get those off of you." I tell him as we walk to my bedroom.

I stand next to the bed facing it, and lift my shirt over my head. I hear him come to stand right behind me, his big warm hands coming around my waist, sliding down to my hips. He gently pulls me back against him, his huge cock pressing against my back, he leaves kisses on my shoulders again. He turns me around and suddenly he isn't the timid cop I'm used to seeing everyday. His eyes were intentional, and it turned me on. He takes off his vest, unbuttons his uniform, and slowly pulls off his t-shirt while I'm standing in front of him. As he slid off his t-shirt I was met with the familiar blue swirls all over his chest. The intensity in his eyes brought me back. His hands grab my hips and he gently sits me on the bed. I unclasp the back of my bra and he slides it off my arms. He stands directly over me and grabs my shirt from behind me. He slowly ties it around my head, covering my eyes. Then a hand comes to the back of my head and he leans me back down on the bed very gently. I can feel him leaning over me, and not being able to see him sparked a bit of excitement between my thighs…

I feel his lips leave gentle kisses, starting from my lips, to my chin, down my neck. Kisses across my collar bone that were slow enough to cause goosebumps to rise. His kisses moved down to my chest, around the swells of my tits. A gentle and very slow kiss on each nipple, make sure he swirled his tongue before moving, causing me to bite my lip through a moan. His kisses continue down my belly, french kissing my belly button, stirring up tingles between my legs. His fingers slid under the hem of my leggings and I started shivering, but I wasn't cold. He stops, and after a few seconds he asks me: "You okay?"

I nod, "Yea I'm fine. Just anxious. I'm not used to it being this gentle."

He's silent for a few seconds, and then I feel his fingers gently slide my panties slowly down my legs. I cross my legs, timidly. I hear him sigh. He's kneeled down in front of my legs as they hang over the edge of the bed. His hands slide up my thighs, and he pauses.

I hear his low voice again say: "I just want you to know, if I ever meet the one who hurt you…"

He slowly but firmly pushed my legs apart before finishing his sentence.

"I'll make sure he knows how bad he fucked up…and what he'll be missing."

His lips come to my pussy, his tusks rubbing into my folds as he slides his tongue up and down my slit, causing my body to melt into the bed. His mouth covers my clit as he sucks and swirls it around with his tongue. He pulls my ass closer to the edge and puts my thighs on his shoulders, the inside of my thighs being tickled by the soft point of his ears. My hands grip the sheets as it gets harder to hold back my moaning. I start grinding his mouth because he is amazing. His hands curl around my thighs, holding them apart as he goes deeper, like he's hungry. I couldn't hold back my moans anymore, and they got louder so he perked his head up from between my legs, "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"Noooo, don't stop." I said between breaths.

He goes back then after a few seconds he slides a finger in me, making me squeal again. I hear him growl for a few seconds. His finger softly massages my g-spot as he moves his finger in and out of me.

He picks up the pace of his finger and I feel a pull of tension between his finger and my clit where his mouth is covering, devouring like it's his last meal.

Never having felt this before, I succumb to its quickly growing intensity, losing my breath… until waves of immense explosions radiate from my clit, sending sparks up my belly and down my legs. He held onto my gently spasming legs but kept massaging my g-spot with his finger, watching me writhe around in my screams.

"Whoa…" I hear him say, as I my body relaxes. I look at him and he's still on his knees in front of my legs. He's looking down at his body. I have no energy to move so,

"What's wrong?" I ask, out of breath.

"Nothing, you just soaked me. Completely." he says, looking back up at me. He stands up and his hand, arm, and chest are shiny from being wet. I feel my face get hot and I cover my cheeks.

"That's all from me?" I ask quietly.

Looking down at himself smiling he replies, "Yeap. That's all you baby. Nothing to be ashamed about at all, I love that I can make you do this."

"My turn…" I tell him, but he shakes his head.

"Nope. I told you I'm gonna show you what you deserve. And this is only tonight…" he says, as he comes closer to me, standing over me again. My legs folded up over my belly. His hands slide up my legs, and pull them gently to where they go to either side of him. He continues:

"We still have our whole vacation to ourselves.." He slides a hand down my inner thigh until he gets to my pussy, still wet and sensitive. He rubs his thumb over my clit, making my breath catch in my throat. He smirks up at me, and looks back down where his hand is. He slides his thumb up and down my wet folds, gently pushing it in me and taking it back out. He rubs around my entrance, gently slipping his thumb in and pulling it back out. I whine, biting my bottom lip.

He gets on his knees again, and I groan because I want his cock inside me. He brings his lips to my pussy and gives it the softest kiss. He looks up at me for a second before going back and sliding his tongue into me. I didn't know orcs had long tongues but he found a helluva way to show me. His tongue is smooth and hot, and feeling it swirl around inside me made me forget everything.

He gently pulls his tongue from me, and kisses my pussy again. He stands and unbuttons his pants-the pants I forgot he was wearing. He slides down his boxers with his pants, and his massive erection springs out of his boxers like its been holding its breath.

I sit up on my elbows, taking him in and he stands in front of me. He motions for me to lay on the pillows, in the middle of the bed.

I don't move. Instead I look at him like he's crazy.

"You said you want to show me an amazing time, and that's not gonna happen on my bed. That's boring." I tell him.

His face straightens up, processing what I just told him.

"I thought humans liked fucking in beds?" he asks. I smile at his innocence.

I get on my knees on the bed, putting us face to face. My arms go around his neck and I kiss him. I feel his arms go around me.

"We do, but, I finally have you all to myself. I don't want you in my bed, I want you everywhere." I say.

I watch him smile as he realizes what I want. His arms come to my thighs as he picks me up, putting my legs around him.

"That means I can make you scream where I've always imagined fucking you" he whispers as he kisses and mouths my neck. He turns and leaves my bedroom, still carrying me. We walk into the living room and he sets me down on the couch. He gets one of the blankets from the couch and gently lays it on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Oh you corny motherfu-" I start to tell him but he interrupts me by kissing me. He picks me up from the couch and slowly lays me down on the blanket. He stays on his knees, leaning over me. I pull his face down to mine and slide my other hand to his back. As he kisses me I part my legs and slide them up until they curl around his hips. He stops kissing me and his eyes travel down my body, his eyes stopping at my mound. His hand grabs his cock, who's still at perfect attention. He rubs the tip up and down my wet slit, bringing his mouth back to mine as he teases me. He kisses down to my neck where he gently bites as he slowly pushes himself into me. My breath catches in my throat so he pulls back out, kissing my neck again. He rubs his tip up and down my slit again, and in circles around my entrance, spreading my wetness.

"Niiiiick" I whisper through a moan, getting frustrated through his teases.

I feel that his cock got harder as he pushes it in me just a little bit. I hear his breath catch as he pushes it a little deeper, and pulls it back out.

My breathing is already faster from him teasing me. His eyes are closed as he keeps his face in my neck.

"You're tighter this time…" he whispers.

"Nick you aren't gonna hurt me, you-" I start to tell him but he shakes his head..

"It's not that. You feel amazing. You're tighter and wetter than I'm used to, so I have to get used to the way you feel, and keep my urges under control so I don't hurt you." he says.

I bring my lips to his and kiss him, my hands on his back pulling him to me urging him to keep going. He rubs the tip of his cock on my pussy again, and my hips grind onto him, wanting him inside me. His face goes into my neck..and he pushes into me again, going a little deeper. He starts thrusting, pushing his cock deeper into me, stretching me. His breaths short, I hear him as he lets out soft growling moans the deeper he pushes into me. My head tilts back as I start screaming with his thrusts. His hand slides down my thigh to my ass, where he grabs it and pulls my legs open more, letting him drive his thrusts deeper. He sighs with a moan and finds a steady pace, he looks down at me holding onto him, moving with his thrusts. His mouth catches one of my bouncing tits and he sucks it gently. He slides a hand to my throat and watches my face as he pushes in very deep and holds it.

I gasp and he catches my open mouth with his. He kisses me while he continues pumping into me, my moans being muffled by his mouth.

He speeds up his thrusting and his face comes back to my neck as he groans something in orcish. His hand gripping my hip firmly so he holds me down as he fucks.

I'm completely overwhelmed at how he feels inside of me, pure bliss washing over me as I lay and pull him closer to me. His hand picks my hips off the floor and he holds it up while he thrusts into me. He sits back onto his knees, holding my hips in both his hands, my legs around his hips as he thrusts. I bring my legs up and put them on his shoulder while he holds my hips up off the ground. He looks down at his wet cock sliding in and out of me, and he bites his lip through a moan. I feel him thrust harder for a few seconds before he blinks a few times and pulls himself back, thrusting gentler.

"You can go harder babe" I tell him between moans and breaths.

He stops and pulls out of me, making me whine. He sets me down and flips me over onto my belly. Before I could say anything he grabs my legs and props them up so my ass is in the air. He's on his knees behind me, his hands sliding over the round of my ass. He gently holds my ass apart while he brings his cock back to my wet slit. He rubs the tip in the wet around my entrance and my back arches, wanting him inside me again. He pushes in me slowly, one hand on my hip.

Feeling him fill me up completely felt amazing, my eyes close and I bite my lip trying to hold back my moans. His other hand holds my hip as he starts thrusting slowly.

I turn and see his head tilting back in a groan as he feels my pussy take him in.

He continues with his steady thrusting, pulling my hips back as he pushes. My knees give out from under me, and I'm laying on my tummy poking my ass up for it.

He stops and pulls out of me.

"No, this is how we finished last time. I don't want this over so quickly. He turned me back over and pulled me up to sit in his lap. I straddled him and he held his cock up so it would slide into my as I sat down. Moaning as his cock filled me again, I felt his arms slide around my back. He pulled me close against him as he kissed me. His hands softly sliding around my body. He puts my arms around his neck and holds me almost like a hug until I feel his hips grind against me while his arms pulled me down.

Nick POV

I hold her in my lap as I grind into her, making sure not to push too hard. Her head tilts back with moans as she feels me fill her up.

Her hands are on my shoulders, her fingers digging into my skin.

"Go harder" she moans.

Still holding onto her, I stand bringing her up with me. I slide my hands under her thighs and hold her up while thrusting into her again. Holding onto my shoulders, her moans turn into screams. Her screams rise a growl from my belly as I thrust into her a little harder. My hands grab her hips tightly and I pull her into me harder when I notice her moans sound a bit painful. I slow and she looks down at me, contemplating.

"Nick, lay me down and fuck me like you want to." she whispers, still holding onto my shoulders breathing hard.

"Babe I don't want t-" I start to tell her. She cuts me off by kissing me hard.

"I want you to fuck me like you want to." she said in a low whisper, her tone more serious.

"I can feel you wanting more. If it hurts too bad, I'll tell you to stop." She finishes, gently biting my bottom lip.

I lay her back down on the floor on her back, her legs over my shoulders, my face over hers. I look down and gently slide my cock into her, still dripping wet.

I look at her for a few seconds, and she kisses me. While she kisses me I thrust into her over and over, picking up my speed. Her moans and breaths putting me under her spell again.

I slide my hand under her ass and keep her hips tilted up as I thrust into her deeper and harder, the way I've been craving to.

Keeping an eye on her, I put my hands on the floor above her head to stabilize myself, as I thrust into her rough and deep.

She holds onto me, screaming. I look down at her and she's got a faint smile on as she screams, her nails digging into my back. Her nails in my back hurt but felt amazing, making my growl grow louder.

"I'm not hurting you?" I ask her, between breaths

"Nick shut UP and fuck me!" she yells breathless, her eyes hungry and angry.

My hand goes to her throat, not squeezing enough to stop her breathing…but rough enough. I hold her still while I continue thrusting deep into her fast and harder like she wanted. Her tits bouncing faster, her screams fanning my hunger. I feel my cravings pulling at me again, but this time I don't hold back. I give in to my urges and I let go. I put her legs down from my shoulders and keep them around my waist. I put my face into her neck and hold her against me while I let my instincts take over in slamming my cock into her, over and over. Her breaths quicken and her body tenses up under me. I check her face to see if she's hurt but her eyes are shut, her mouth open, her nails tearing into my shoulders. Suddenly I feel her pussy tighten around me, pulsing, gushing. Aella leans up and bites my shoulder through a moan as she grinds against my thrusts into her. I keep thrusting, trying to keep from coming. Biting my lip, I didn't realize I was moaning with her.

"Come. Come with me" she whispers between her moans, her body still spasming as she grinds.

Her eyes, pleading, still full of lust.

I let go from holding back and I thrust harder, feeling the growing pull in my groin. She nods while screaming, I still feel her pulsing around my cock. The pull get stronger and I try but fail to keep my growl to a minimum. I pull her against me and push my cock as deep as I could as I feel waves of strong orgasmic sparks ripple through my groin, her tight, warm pussy holding onto me as my cum fills her up.

Her body falls limp under me, and I look down at her. She's still breathing hard, looking up at me smiling.

"So, I didn't hurt you?" I ask her.

She shakes her head and bites her bottom lip.

"No, you felt amazing Nick…" she says. "…Although my legs are now jelly."

I chuckle at her and slowly pull myself out of her. I stand and walk to the kitchen looking for a towel.

"Don't use my kitchen towels, there's extra towels in the bathroom!" she calls to me laughing.

When I come back with a towel, she's laying on her belly playing with Poppy.

The fire was casting a flickering flow on her ass, and it made the whole situation look unreal. She turns to look at me and smiles. I get back down on the blanket with her and she giggles as I clean us both up. I toss the towel away and lay down next to her. She blinks slowly, as I sigh and relax.

"I'd say that's the best start to any vacation I've ever had." I tell her, sliding my hand down her back.

She smiles with closed eyes as she dozes off to sleep. I look around for Poppy and she's already asleep against Aella's leg.

I lay on my back, too energized to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about tomorrow.


	28. Chapter 28

****Chapter 28****

[[thanks for reading! Hope you like this chapter!]]

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Aella POV

I woke up to Poppy licking my face, and looking at the feet of my living room furniture. Confused, I sit up and rub my face. I look around and remember last night. Nick is passed out next to me, still naked. I sigh and stretch and Nick's hand is suddenly on my leg, startling me.

"WHOA…shit. You scared me, I thought you were asleep." I breathed.

"I was." He says, sitting up. He quickly realizes he's naked and he pulls the blanket over his middle.

I stand and walk into the kitchen to push the power button on the coffee pot. I walk from the kitchen into my bathroom, Poppy clumsily running behind my feet.

After a quick shower, I'm in my room with my toothbrush in my mouth, rummaging through my clothes and tossing what I want to take onto the bed. Nick brings in two mugs of coffee, setting one on my night-stand. He leans against the door frame and chuckles while watching me, sipping from his mug.

I slide on a simple maxi dress and rush back into the bathroom to do my hair and face.

"I'm glad you're getting some entertainment from me." I tell him after spitting out my toothpaste foam. He brings my mug of coffee and hugs me from behind as I take it and sip from it.

He kisses my shoulder and lingers, smelling my skin.

"Your smell is stronger after a shower." he says, kissing my shoulder again.

"Should I wear something else then…since we'll be at the airport, and traveling….." I ask him.

"No. No..you look beautiful in this, and it's probably more comfortable than wearing pants. I'm going to be with you the whole time, you don't need to worry about anyone bothering you." he explains.

"It's not that I'm worried about someone bothering me, but I'm worried about my smell bothering other people." I tell him.

He nods, smiling. "I get that. But no love, only orcs and those with our sense of smell can smell you, and even then they'd have to be very close to you. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Mmmkay." I settle. I kiss his lips, which have been flavored with coffee, and continue putting my makeup on and fixing my hair.

He leaves the bathroom, finishing his mug of coffee.

A few hours later and a million puppy kisses goodbye, we're at the airport waiting for our flight to board. Other than work, I was only around Nick at home. We occasionally went places together, but mostly stayed home because he didn't like getting out much. Being with him at the airport, I found out why. The airport was bustling with humans, elves, orcs, and sometimes other creatures. Humans and elves noticeably moved away from orcs. I got more stares than usual because I was holding his hand throughout the airport. I didn't give a shit about other people's opinions, and I know Nick didn't either, but I still felt a veil of worry in him. We sat in the seats at our gate as people filtered around.

"So are you gonna tell me what you're worried about, or do I need to dig a little deeper?" I asked him. "Hm?" He looked at me confused for a few seconds before he gave up and sighed.

"I see you noticing the people staring at us. It worries me because I don't want you to end up how I did. With the way people stare at me….I don't want you to end up miserable, not wanting to leave your own house. You're too beautiful to be hidden away." he says in a low voice, fidgeting with the label on his water bottle.

I slide my hand into his, lacing our fingers. I lean closer to his ear so he'll hear me clearly.

"Nick, I don't care that people are staring at us. It doesn't bother me at all. If they want to judge us based on what we look like, let them. They have no idea how amazing you are, and that means I don't have to share." I tell him. His ears twitch and he bites his bottom lip to hold back a smile. He tightens his hand on mine. A little girl with gold hair was wandering around the small row of chairs, entertained by the tiny doll she was holding onto. She stopped in front of us, looking at Nick. He smiled at her, and her eyes shifted to me. She came to me and stood looking up at me with her hands on my knees. Her radiant green eyes shimmered and I reached into her, curious at what she was feeling while staring up at me. A swirling innocent blend of awe and curiosity. I watch her eyes move from my eyes to my shoulder, and down my arm. I look at my arm and the sunlight beaming in from the window behind us caught the right angle of my skin to show its shimmering colors. Her finger comes to my arm where there was an area of reflection, and she runs her finger down my arm. She looks at her finger and her eyes drop in disappointment.

I hear a woman's voice call out "Lilly?" a few times before I see a slender woman with matching golden hair coming towards us upon spotting the little girl. The girl turns around to her mom, excited:

"Mommy look at her skin!" she says, pointing at my arm.

As the woman gets closer to us, I see her pointed ears. She looks at us and gives us a fake smile before taking her daughter's hand and pulling her along back where she had come from. The little girl waved bye at us with sad eyes and Nick sighed.

After a few seconds of silence he says, "That more than anything, is what bothers me. Not the staring." He looks over at me with his yellow eyes, and back over to where the woman and her daughter disappeared. He didn't have to explain for me to understand.

When they started calling out sections of the plane to board, Nick grabbed my hand and stood up, bringing me up with him. I followed him to the ticket checker and she cleared us to board. We settled into our seats, which were much larger and more comfortable than I was used to on a plane.

As the last of the passengers made it onto the plane, the last pair was the slender elf and her little girl. They settled into the same row as us, but across the aisle. The little girl sat in the seat next to the aisle, and so did I. Nick loved the window seat for the pictures he took. After she was buckled in, her mother buckled herself in and was immediately in a phone call. The little girl was playing with her little doll's hair when she starts looking around the cabin of the plane. Her eyes finally made their way over to me and Nick and she gasped and perked up in her chair. She waved at me excitedly, smiling as big as her mouth could stretch.

I elbow Nick to get his attention and we both wave at her. She looks up at her mom, who is still on her phone oblivious, and looks back at us smiling.

"You're the fairy lady I saw earlier!" she whispered loudly with her little hands cupped next to her mouth. I feel something spark in Nick and suddenly the little girl has his full attention. I nod a little bit at the girl, but put my finger to my lips signaling her to keep it a secret. She nods, a huge smile on her face. I feel Nick's hand on my leg at the same time as the ping of the pilot's announcement before take-off.

.

Nick had arranged a shuttle to take us from the airport to the resort. What looked like a regular SUV on the outside, was a very luxurious interior on the inside. The seats wrapped around, like a limousine, but comfortably held five people instead of a group. A small rectangular section in the center just wide enough to make a thin trough of ice for whatever drinks needed to be held cold during the ride. The driver put our bags away for us while we settled into the truck.

I'm looking at everything in the truck and talking to Nick during the ride to the hotel.

We were talking about the little girl on the flight and how precious she was, although her mother wanted nothing to do with us.

"I can't wait to stretch out on the bed." I tell him as I lean my head on his shoulder.

"We're probably not going to be in bed very much, honestly." Nick says.

A sly grin crawls up my cheek. "We'll see about that…" I tell him. He smiles at me sarcastically, which is unusual for him, so I pry. He's excited for something. Very excited…but shows no signs on his face or body language. I sigh.

"I wish that fairy gave me the ability to read minds too." I say out loud.

"That's a terrible idea." Nick says without missing a beat, making me chuckle.

"Why?…" I ask him, failing at hiding my smile.

He brings his face close to me and says in a low voice, "You were already dangerous before anything happened. Now you're able to feel the emotions of the people around you, you have blood that is essentially nectar, your eyes allow you to see in the dark, your skin is iridescent, all with a goddamn __flower__ being your fuel. Now add reading minds to that?! You'd be fucking unstoppable…" he finishes, his yellow eyes looking over my face. I'm stunned into silence because he laid out everything exactly right.

"Holy shit…" I say, realizing the magnitude of it all.

He nods in agreement.

When we pull up to the hotel, the driver comes around to the door and opens it, ushering us out. There were already people gathering our things from the back of the truck, all of them wearing the same colored shirt. Nick grabs my hand and leads me up the stairs of a huge house. A beautiful elf woman walks up to us, smiling. A very small fairy sitting on her shoulder, holding onto her shirt. She introduces herself and sees my worried face looking at the fairy.

"Oh no need to worry about Evie here. She's very sweet, and only sits on my shoulder so she doesn't get stepped on or swatted at. She loves meeting new people" She says, looking down at the tiny girl crouched on her shoulder, her hand clinging to her collar. She brings her hand up, and Evie gently jumps down into it, crouching again and holding onto her thumb. She slowly brings her hand forward towards me when Nick's hand went in front of me, guarding me.

"Wait.." he says, the woman bringing her hand back to her chest, an apology forming in her eyes.

"The last time a fairy got near her, she was sent to the hospital. I don't want that happening again, so we'll just be moving alo-" he was explaining to the woman but before he could finish, the fairy had flown out of her hands and was floating in front of me like a hummingbird, staring at me.

"Nick, it's okay…" I tell him, not taking my eyes off Evie. I held my open palm out for her, and she gently landed in it, holding onto my pinky. I brought her closer to my face and I see the elf woman smile, but Nick moved closer to me, his face worried. When I get her close enough, I can see details in her face, the color of her scales, and the shape of her wings. Her eyes were a very light green, almost exactly like the little girl on the plane. I loved that fairies didn't wear clothes. Their scales covered everything, and her wings were beautiful.

"You smell like home…" she says,with the frailest voice. Her little arms hugging my finger as she snuggles her face against me.

Nick looks at me, and it's obvious he's now learned that fairies can smell me too.

On my hand, I feel warmth and a small humming coming from Evie. I smile at Nick, who's now got that ' I've-seen-this-face-before' look.

"Babe, I can feel her loving me" I whisper to him, excited.

The woman who had her was smiling adoringly at Evie, nodding. Evie suddenly darted up, and back onto the shoulder of the elf woman, saying something into her ear. The woman looked at me, and chews on her lip for a few seconds before saying, "could you excuse us for a second? Ganine, could you show them to their room?" she motions to another elf woman, who nods and motions for us to follow her. I look back for Evie and they've gone around a corner. Nick's hand gently tugs at me to come along.

"We'll come find her later, I promise. Let's get settled into our room and go find some dinner, I'm starving." Nick says. We follow them down a hallway that leads outside to a garden. A path of soft gravel leads us through the garden to a cozy house that was just small enough to still be considered a cottage. The woman walks up the steps and unlocks the door for us, propping it open with a hook on the frame.

As she hands the keys to Nick she says "This is suite 2. You have the entire house to yourself. In every room is a small purple button that is pushed only in the event of an emergency. In the kitchen you'll see a round speaker with buttons on top, push the silver button to reach the main house if you need anything at any time. It is a pleasure to have you as guests, and we hope you enjoy your stay." she waves and walks off with the others after they put our things inside.

Nick looks back at me smiling as he leads me up the stairs and into the house. I close and lock the door behind me and we both walk around and look at everything.

Every single room was completely furnished, and clean. It was open, airy, and smelled like they had just finished cleaning the house with flowers. Nick finds the sitting room, full of very cushy sofas, pillows, and blankets with a huge tv in the wall.

"This looks like it was built for pillow fights." he says. I laugh and I keep walking to see what the dining area and kitchen looked like. The dining table was round with four chairs around it, a slim vase with a single yellow flower standing in it. I turn the corner into the kitchen, which was simple, but cute and had all the appliances and tools you'd need to make a meal if you wanted to. The cliche fruit basket on the counter, with a pamphlet from the hotel welcoming us to the suite. I open the fridge and it's full of fresh vegetables, water bottles, several types of wine, and beer. I hear Nick come into the kitchen behind me and I hand him a beer.

"Hey…now it's a party." he says as he takes it and twists the cap off. I chug water from a water bottle while noticing the round speaker with buttons on top.

"Oooo let's go look at the room" he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the set of stairs near the front door. The stairs led to a small hallway with a sitting area, and one door. Nick opened the door opened to a huge bedroom. He smiles and says "come see this..."

A massive bed against the wall, large windows with layers of curtains that were pulled mostly shut. Along the other wall is floor-to-ceiling shelving with vases of all different shapes ans sizes, but every vase was full of my radiant orange Crocosmia flowers. I covered my mouth as I gasped. Nick, who was smiling, walks over to the bed, noticing a small square piece of paper. I walk into the bedroom looking at the wall covered in flowers, in the middle of the wall, separating the shelves is an open door that led to a beautiful bathroom. A round tub with embedded seats. A large walk-in shower. A vanity with two sinks, perfectly folded towels in every size, one wall coming from the shower lined with clean hanging towels, and a digital clock with the time and weather glowing from the surface of the mirror. I was about to say something when I was suddenly hit with a thick cloud of nervous, almost nauseating. I walk out of the bathroom realizing the silence, and Nick is standing right outside the bathroom door, waiting for me. His hands were together, holding something in them. Before I could ask him anything, he says:

"I know I'm not perfect…but somehow you make me feel like I am. I know we've only known each other this past year but it feels like I've known you my whole life. I uh….I put all this together because I honestly believe that I'll spend the rest of my life with you." he says in a shaky voice, my eyes starting to water. He smiles at me through his nervousness and continues…

"And so I have a few things for you..that I hope you like. The first one, I had Dorghu make because I know how much it will mean to you…" He opens one shaky hand, bringing it up to me. It's a necklace, a silver chain holding a very small glass jar. I gently pick it up and look at the jar, my heart starting to race.

"Inside the jar is a small tuft of hair from Ollie's chest…" Is all I hear him say before I'm covering my mouth, tears overflowing my eyes and streaming down both cheeks. I clutch the necklace against me as I start sobbing and he comes to me pulling me against him. He kisses the top of my head and holds me.

.

After a few minutes, I've stopped crying and his hand comes to tilt my chin up to look at him. He drops a soft kiss on my lips, and whispers, "I have one more thing left."

"Jeez, Nick…" I chuckle, sniffling and wiping my wet cheeks. His cloud of nerves has returned…he takes a step back and brings his hand up. In his fingers is a thin ring, black on the outside, rose gold on the inside. My eyes grow wide as I look at him, but before I could find a breath he says,

"This isn't an engagement ring, don't worry." he says, smirking at me. I release the breath I didn't know I was holding, and he continues:

"This is me giving you my commitment. We've never talked about marriage or anything, and I'm okay with that. Based on what you've told me about your past relationships, I don't want to do anything that will make you feel rushed or uncomfortable, so I'm in full support of you setting the pace and direction of our relationship. My commitment to you is being the absolute best of me that you deserve, because this is it. I've chosen you. Even if you and I don't stay together, I wont be like this with anyone else. I don't have any interest in finding anyone else in the world. As long as I'm alive, I will never stop showing you how much you mean to me. This ring…" he says as he slides it onto the ring finger on my right hand. "…is a reminder that you will never be alone again. You're it for me, Aella." He says on a sigh of relief and I launch myself into his arms, crying again.

Later that evening we're sitting at a little table on the porch of our suite, the sun had already gone under the horizon but it wasn't completely dark yet. Nick found the resort's room service information and ordered us dinner. I watched the resort keepers walk between the suites and gardens, lighting the thin torches that lined the paths. Nick turned on music but kept the volume low. I was fidgeting with the ring he gave me, swirling it around on my finger with my thumb and pinky. I was deep in thought thinking about what he said when he gave it to me, when he comes out onto the porch holding a bottle of wine, one glass, and a beer for him.

"Dinner should be here in a few minutes." he says, setting down the drinks. He sees that I wasn't paying attention and he comes over sliding his hands down my shoulders, pulling me from my thoughts. He leans down and kisses my cheek before whispering, "And then after dinner, you can help me find out how big the tub is…"

He stands and walks back to his side of the table like he didn't just say that. I look at him smiling.

"Now you're asking for trouble…" I tell him, right as a short jingle came from the speaker, letting us know someone was at the door. Nick walks back in the house and I pull the cork from the bottle and pour some in the glass he brought. I hear talking from inside, and then footsteps getting closer. Nick comes out onto the porch, followed by someone. Both of them carrying containers of food.

I turn and look and its the woman who greeted us with Evie, who was sitting on her shoulder. When she saw me she immediately fluttered over to me, landing gently on the table in front of me.

I folded my hands on top of each other on the table and rest my chin on them, so she's standing in front of my face. She cautiously walks towards me, and I notice Nick pause in unpacking the food to watch her. She looks me all over, inspecting me. I don't think she'll hurt me, so I stay very still. She runs her tiny hands along the skin of my arms, my face, she comes to my lips and eyes. She looks into them curiously and I can feel her warmth again.

I heard the elf woman whisper something in elvish, and Evie crouched a bit as she looked back at the elf. Her warmth dissolved and she stepped back away from my face.

"I'm sorry m'lady" she says in her little voice.

"She's not a bother at all" I tell the elf, lifting my head up. "Actually…can she stay for a bit?"

Evie perked up so much that she was floating within seconds of me asking. Her pleading eyes looking at the elf, who was contemplating her decision. She thinks for a few seconds and then says,

"May I sit? There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

Nick pulls out a chair from the table and he takes the container from her and sets it on the table, continuing to set things up so we can eat.

"First, in case you forgot, my name is Alais." she says while sitting in the chair Nick pulled out. Evie noticed my hands were unfolded while talking to Alais and she uses my pinky to help herself into my hand for a seat. I notice the lit torches casting a flickering shadow in my hand, the sky completely dark now.

"The resort, while it may receive most of its income from the suites, attractions, and amenities, is also the largest fairy sanctuary in the region…" I glance at Nick when she says this, and he's failing at hiding his smile. "In larger cities people are often too busy to worry about fairies, so they tend to turn to foraging, gathering, and hunting in order to eat. This survival mode makes them very cranky creatures. If we took the time to know them and care for them, we'd find that they are very very sweet, and loyal. The sanctuary has thousands of volunteer fosters around the country, most of them being within 100 miles. Any fairy that comes to us for rehabilitation or healing is fostered and nursed back to pristine health. From there they have the choice to go back out independently, or be adopted by someone who can provide care for them if they need it." she says, smiling.

I look down at Evie who was sitting quietly in my hand, smiling up at all of us.

"Alais has been fostering me for several months now, and she's been so wonderful…" Evie starts, looking at Alais, who nods as if she's giving permission. Evie continues:

"…But I'm at the end of my fostering period with Alais, and I made the choice of finding a family that would be comfortable taking me in rather than going back into the world on my own." Her eyes look down. "But I made that choice last week, and we still haven't found a family willing to adopt me. People see fairies as pests, and with me being so tiny…" she trails off.

I slowly cup my hands around her, and pull her towards me. I put my face close to hers, and she comes to my face and hugs my nose.

"Aella…." I hear Nick say, in his warning tone. Before I could say anything Evie looks up at him and backs away from my face.

"I should let you guys eat. If Alais says it's okay, I'll come back tonight." Evie says, before fluttering back to the shoulder of Alais.

"Yes, we'll let you get back to your evening." Alais says, standing. Nick walks her out and I'm sitting in silence, not really hungry anymore.

Nick comes back, rubbing his hands together ready to eat. He puts his plate in front of his chair and he brings my plate to me, noticing my silence.

"Hey, you alright?" he asks, nudging me.

"Yea, just thinking about Evie." I tell him, sighing.

"I was thinking, tomorrow we can go to the fairy garden they have here, as cliche as the name is. It looks like a pretty cool place, I think you'd enjoy it." he says, putting my plate down. I grab his hand and look at him, and he brings his lips to mine.

"Would you be mad at me if I said I wasn't hungry?" I whispered at him.

"No, of course not baby" he chuckles and asks, "You're tired aren't you?"

I nod and stand up, putting the lid back on my plate so I can put it in the fridge. Nick goes to the rail on the porch and looks out into the gardens, where there were a few hanging lanterns to keep it from being pitch black. I refill my wine glass and walk into the kitchen to put my plate away for tomorrow. As I shut the refrigerator door, Nick's arms slide around me and gently take the wine glass from my hands.

"Whoa whoa….what are you-" I was saying as he turned me around and pushed me against the fridge, kissing me. He set the glass on top of the fridge and pulled me into him as he took a few steps backwards. He breaks the kiss, leaving me breathless.

"Okay…" I say out loud. A long evil grin crawled up his face and he suddenly picked me up and tossed me onto his shoulder. He jogs up the stairs, swatting my butt as he goes. I can't get a word out because I'm laughing and trying to pinch his butt. We go through our room and the smell of the flowers hits me as we go by, and then he stops in a dark room. He flicks the light on and he sets me down gently on the bathroom floor. I move my hair from my face and stand up, punching his arm.

"Ah! Heyyy I was nice, I didn't throw you down. But next time I will!" he said sarcastically. I'm catching my breath when he goes to the tub and starts pushing buttons on a panel on the wall. There were no knobs to turn for the water, only the small panel that had soft buttons to operate the tub. After a few button pushes, water pours from a wide and almost flat spout coming from the wall. He pushes another button and foam starts forming.

"Really, Nick?" I ask through a smile. "Bubbles?"

He shrugs, "I like bubble baths, they're very soothing." he says, biting his bottom lip to hide his grin.

"You're full of shit" I tell him, chuckling.

He slides his shirt off over his head, and pulls me to him. He puts his face very close to my face, his eyes looking over my body. "Yea, we'll see what you'll be saying here in a few minutes…" he whispers.

"Is..is that a threat….Officer Jakoby?" I ask him, sarcastically. A growl rumbles from his chest as he smiles. He didn't know it yet, but every time I heard his low growl, I was instantly turned on. He slid his hands up my dress, and pulled it off over my head. He looks down where my thighs meet and bit his bottom lip. I stand and slowly slide them off while turning around. I unhook my bra and look at him over my shoulder as I slide it off and toss it aside. The water stops running in the tub from being full, and I carefully step into it. I kneel down and move to a seat and look back up at Nick, who's sliding his pants and boxers down his legs. He steps in slowly and moves to me, immediately kissing me and pulling me into his lap. He gently pushes into me and guides my hips to move so I'm comfortable and able to feel all of him.

Just over an hour later we're laying in bed watching a movie. My head is laying on the crook where his arm meets his shoulder, dozing off to the blue flicker of the TV. I feel Nick tap my arm, and I open my eyes. He gets up and goes to the window to open it a bit.

"What's going on?" I ask, half asleep.

He mumbles something and then motions to me. Something tiny floats over to me and after blinking a few times, I see it's Evie. She gently lands on the bed and comes to my face to hug me, then comes and lays down in my hand. Nick stands next to the bed, looking at her.

"Ssssso….you sleeping here?" He asks out loud.

"Nick don' be an asshole.." I tell him, tossing a pillow at him. I re-position the way I was laying so Evie could have her own little section of pillow. Nick crawled back into the bed as she curled up and spread her wings to cover herself but I curled my hand around her anyway.

Nick POV

When I get back into the bed, I turn the TV off and settle in next to Aella. I slide my arm up and down her back until I fall asleep.

.

When I wake up the next morning Aella is still asleep, her one hand still curled gently around Evie. I quietly shut the door to the bathroom and start the shower.

As I was about to finish when I smell Aella's sweet scent, and when I turn around she's walking up to me completely naked. Her hair was a mess, but she was still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Can I join you?" she asks, already knowing the answer.

She slides her arms around me, hugging me. She kisses my back and steps in front of me, taking all the water. "It sounded like you said __join__ …not __takeover__.." I tell her while I smile and I walk over to the wall of hanging towels. I was curious to see how long she could go without being affectionate towards me, which normally isn't long but half of that was my fault. So without being obvious, I quietly kept to myself but focused entirely on our vacation to maintain my good mood. I don't want to give myself away if she decided to pry. Tying the towel around my waist, I walk around the wall dividing the shower from the rest of the bathroom. I walk to the kitchen and get some coffee started. I turned around after grabbing some mugs and Evie was walking across the counter, startling me. I jumped and almost dropped the mugs.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you…" she says, her tiny hands covering her mouth.

"No, that's alright. I had forgotten you were here." I sighed and put the mugs down.

She climbed into the fruit bowl, to the top of the stacked oranges and apples and sat on top, looking at me intently like she waiting for me. I had been mulling over a thought since last night, and now that she was here, I could ask her without Aella knowing about it.

"Last night when you were telling us that you couldn't find a family to adopt you, you sounded like you were hinting at wanting Aella and I to adopt you?" I asked. She perked up, nodding.

"Normally….I wouldn't mind, but the last time Aella came in contact with a fairy, that fairy was sick and it caused Aella to be in the hospital for days while it turned her from human to…whatever the amazing being she is now. She almost died." Evie's head shot up and she stood when she heard what happened. I kept explaining…

"Aella just lost her dog a few months ago, and it's still very raw to her. To help heal that, I adopted a puppy for her. We're both cops so we're almost never home. She has so much going on right now, I'm not sure if we can add caring for a fragile fairy to that list." Her face dropped again, and she sat down again, her head down. It pained me to see her like that, defeated.

"Okay…" she whispered, and I almost didn't hear it. I didn't know what to do, or how to comfort something so tiny. I'm afraid of crushing her on accident, which is a big reason why I was resisting adopting her. I poured coffee from the pot into my mug, trying not to focus on Evie. Aella's footsteps are heard coming down the hallway, and I peek over at Evie hoping she'd perk up with Aella. She walked around the corner and smiles when she sees the coffee. Her hair is up in a wet bun and she's wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of her shorts.

"Ooooh you read my mind!" she says, wiggling the whole way to the coffee pot. Her eyes move to Evie, who's still sitting there defeated. My heart sinks because I'm pretty sure I know what's about to happen. Aella's face fell serious and she immediately put her mug down.

"Evie? What's going on, why do you feel like that?" She asks her, reaching out to carry her. Evie slowly climbs in her hand and Aella brings her hand to face level. Evie blinks a few times, her head down as if she's timid.

"I was told by your partner that you guys __won't__ be adopting me. I'm so sorry for all the loss and trouble you've endured recently. You are such a beautiful soul and whenever you decide to adopt, I hope they know how lucky they are to have you. I'll um…just be heading back now…" she says in the saddest but most genuine voice, successfully making me feel like an asshole. She stands in Aella's hands and lifts herself into a flutter.

"W-…wait!..What do you mean we aren't adopting you? I didn't know I had the option to adopt you! Nick is that why you brought me?" She asked. I was not prepared…

"I…..I brought you to this resort so we could visit the fairy garden. I didn't know they also did adoptions, I guess I missed that part of the description. But…with everything going on, I don't think it's the right time to adopt a fairy Aella, I'm sorry." I tell her, deciding honesty was the best route. "Why wouldn't it be the right time?" she asked me… "I'm still learning how my body works, and how to heal myself if I'm ever hurt. Evie would be such an amazing fairy to keep…" she says, cupping her in her hands again.

Evie snuggled against her cheek: "I knew right away Aella was perfect for me."

Aella looked over at me, and I'm pinching the bridge of my nose. I made the mistake of looking up at her, only to find her coming over to me with huge watery eyes. I hugged her and looked at her for a few seconds. I looked down at my feet, trying to hide my defeat. I fail and she catches me smiling.

I knew I had lost.


	29. Chapter 29

****Chapter 29****

 _Woohoo! finally Ch29! Sorry for the delay! Outside of writing, I'm always busy but i will always come back to y'all! Thanks for reading, leave a review-favorite-follow!_

 _Also: please don't post any spoilers in the reviews! Thanks guys, y'all are amazing 3_

 _Disclaimer: yup, another lemon._

.

.

I sigh. "Alright, alright. I guess it wont hurt to add one more to the fa-" is all I got out before Aella launched herself at me. Her arms went around my neck and she was squealing with joy. Evie was fluttering over to us, so I held my hand out and she gently landed in it, smiling.

"Does this mean I go home with you, Aella?" I heard her tiny voice ask. They both look up at me, so I nod, but my face is still serious.

"Yea. Yea it does. But first we need to find out everything we need for you…" I say out loud.

She's suddenly floating, she slowly gets closer and closer to my face until she can reach out and touch my nose. She plants a tiny kiss on my nose and flutters to Aella's shoulder, grabbing handfuls of the cotton t-shirt to hang on.

"Hey, didn't you say you wanted to go see the fairy gardens today?" Aella asked.

"Yea we need to, especially if we want to know how to take care of Evie so she doesn't turn into a pest. We've gotta lay out some guidelines so nobody steps on anyone's toes or makes this more stressful than it already is." I tell them both, Aella nodding.

Alais left but Evie stayed with us while we got dressed for the day and headed out to the gardens. There was a certain path to follow to the gardens. Along every path were color coded lanterns directing guests along. There were no signs to pollute the views. When we came to a split in the trails, we followed the trail with the purple lanterns. I hear Evie's voice from behind me…

"The lights look a lot better at night when the sun is gone." she says, pointing.

I notice the foliage getting thicker as we follow the purple lantern path. I heard Evie's buzzing wings go past me and she's fluttering in front of us, looking at a tree in full bloom that had low branches blocking the rest of the path. She stops in front of it and turns around to look at us.

"We're here. Please be mindful of where you step, and don't move too fast. There isn't any malicious fairies here, this sanctuary spot is full of healing fairies, and none one them are contagious." She says, smiling and looking at me with the last part. I nod, feeling better about Aella being in here.

She floats back to Aella's shoulder and we keep going, pulling the leaves and small branches to the side so Aella can walk in.

This garden looks a lot similar to the gardens in between the suites: trees, and bushes of flowers everywhere…only this was much much bigger. The main thing that made this garden different was all the things that were used by fairies to make a tiny home for themselves. Bushes, trees, the flower beds, old flower pots, mounds of rocks, and leaves that had been combined together. There were birdbaths everywhere, but you could tell they've been there awhile by the amount of moss completely covering them, making a soft "carpet" for fairies to sit while they drink. There were beds of all kinds of flowers, with random bushes of thick shrubs. It looked out of place at first until you notice fairies have burrowed inside and made a home from the shrubs.

In the center of the garden is an area full of flowers with a small fence around it, people and fairies coming in and out of there.

"That's the fruit garden. It's where the resort grows fruits, vegetables, and herbs for us to eat so we don't have to go hunting for them unless we want to," Evie says.

We make our way to a little section of grass, and we sit down. I'm looking around at everything, until I hear several buzzing fairies behind me. I turn and see Aella holding several fairies in her hand, looking at them with awe. Most of these fairies were larger than Evie… More would come and land on her hand, looking at her intently. Some would flutter in front of her, look her over, and then fly away. Some brought her bits of food as an offering. Evie looked over at me and she floats to my shoulder and sits.

"Overwhelmed?" I ask her.

"No…" her tiny voice says. "…But if I sit with you, other fairies will know to trust you." she finishes.

I hadn't thought about the fairies not trusting me. But sure enough after she said that, a few fairies came to me. One walked along my arm, looking at the blue lines. I held my arms up and for some reason, all kinds of fairies flew to me and landed on my arms, completely filling them. I froze, not knowing what to do, nor wanting to hurt them.

"Uh….Aella….help?" I said calmly. Some were walking along my arm, a few were picking at me and smelling me, most were picking at themselves or looking me over. Aella looks over at me, and busts out laughing. She nods her head at me, and I realize why she's laughing. They were also completely surrounding Aella. She had a few sitting in her hair, some were on her shoulders, most were on her legs as she sat in the grass. All of them listening to her, smelling her, cuddling her.

"Aellaaa.…." I say, now covered in fairies.

"Sit down, let them explore. They won't hurt you. I can feel every single one of them." Aella says with a smile on her face. I slowly sit down and a few more fairies land in front of me in the grass.

"I'll be right back, I know something that will help." I hear Evie's tiny voice in my ear. She flutters away and another fairy flutters over and lands in the spot she was at. Aella stretches out and slowly lays down in the grass on her side. As I watched her, I realized __why__ she laid down. Fairies were walking up to her in the grass and she wanted to make it easier to meet them. A few minutes later, Evie is fluttering back holding something. She lands on the grass in front of my legs and I see she's holding a grape. She sets it down and takes a bite from it like an apple. Other fairies come over and take turns getting a bite from the grape.

I was watching this for a while until I hear a silence come from where Aella was sitting. She was focused on one of the fairies in the grass. She held her hand out and a very small, very pregnant fairy slowly waddled into her hand. She sits down and holds onto one of Aella's fingers. She gently brought her up closer so she could see the fairy. Her tiny hand laid on her belly, and she was breathing hard. A few fairies were floating by Aella's hand, watching over the pregnant fairy. She brought her second hand up for safety and put her hands close to her face. The fairy in her hands touched Aella's face and whispered something to her.

Aella gently put her down and she looked over at me, smiling. Her day had been made.

We were there almost an hour when we both realized we were hungry. After waiting for Aella return goodbyes to literally almost all of them that came to see her.

As we were coming up the stairs to our suite, two of the workers from the main house were knocking on our door.

"Oh! We're right here…coming back from the gardens.." I tell them, as they turn and we see them delivering containers of food from the main kitchen.

"They brought us lunch? How did they know we were hungry?" Aella asks. Evie, who's resting on her shoulders, stands up and leans towards her ear to tell her something. Aella nods, realization in her eyes. She looks up at me, her eyes bright.

"Apparently I'm not the only fairy who can feel what others feel. Once __one__ of them felt that we were hungry, a lot of them felt it, and it spread. Which makes sense as to why the food is arriving before we are.." she says, her last words on a giggle.

I nod, processing what she told me as I take the food containers from the staff. As we walk back into cool inside air, there was a collective sigh…one of them tiny, causing me to laugh.

"That's gonna take me a while to get used to…" I said, chuckling.

I set the food containers on the kitchen counter reminding Aella that she still had last night's food in the fridge. She opened the lid of the food they just brought over, and she instantly decided to eat this one over the leftovers. She doesn't waste any time, she grabs a fork and starts eating. She didn't eat dinner last night and didn't each much of a breakfast. Evie flutters from her shoulder to the counter, peeking into the container at the food Aella is eating. I pulled out a bar stool next to Aella but she doesn't take it. She's devouring her container of food.

Evie walks over to me and looks into my untouched container, and as I pull out a stool for me to sit on I hear her ask…

"Is it alright if I have that mint leaf there?" she says, looking at me and pointing into my dish with pleading eyes. At first I was uncomfortable that she was looking into our plates, but I quickly realized Evie and I eat many of the same things with the difference being that her meal will be much much smaller. I nod at her, and she flutters over my plate towards my salad. She slowly and gently picks up one, careful not to touch the other leaves. She flutters back over to where she was standing and set the leaf down. She sat down next to it and tore pieces from it to eat.

"Is that all you'll eat?" I ask her, making sure she's got enough.

She smiles and nods, "oh yes, this will last me all day, thank you" she says, her mouth full. She looks over at Aella, who's taking her last few bites.

"Aella, you ate that really fast babe…." I said, sliding my hand across her back. She nods and covers her mouth.

"I was starving, I'm sorry.." I hear come from behind her hands.

I go to the fridge and grab her a water bottle to drink, and then I remembered Evie. I look over at her and shes tearing another piece from the mint.

"Evie what do you drink?….or rather, how much do you drink?" I ask her, suddenly curious of everything. She flutters over to me, landing on my shoulder close to my ear. I hear the remnants of a giggle as she lands and walks closer to my ear.

"I drink water when there's nothing else available but I mostly drink the juices from fruits or vegetables. If you've got something small, you can just pour some water in it for me." she says.

".…..How will you drink it?" I ask her, confused.

Aella is chewing her last bite of food, looking at us. I put the water bottle in front of Aella and start looking around for a very small bowl or container to hold clean water for Evie.

"Our hands are very small, so we can pick up a drop of water from a larger body. You can't see them, but we have very small fibers on the palm of our hands. Separate from giving us the ability to climb things, this helps water stay beaded up on our hands so we can drink from it." She says. She pats my ear and flutters back over to her mint leaf.

I grab a water bottle for myself and walk back over to where I was going to sit and eat next to Aella. As I sat down, Aella lays down the cap of her bottle and slowly pours a little bit in there. Evie flutters over quickly, and peeks in. She dips her hand into the water and pulls it back out, holding a drop of water. She brings the drop of water to her mouth and it gets smaller as she drinks it. She smiles at Aella and sighs.

"Thank you" she says, and flutters back to her mint leaf.

I'm a few bites into my food when my phone rings, and I see Ward's name light up the screen.

"Jakoby….." I answer.

"Hey, I know y'all are on vacation and I didn't want to bother but this couldn't wait. Word on the street is they're gonna shut down the sanctuary where Tikka stays. I don't know why, nobody's talking so I was checking to see if she reached out to you yet…" Ward says.

"No, I haven't heard from Tikka in a while…but uh, I can reach out to her and find out what's going on.." I reply. Evie is standing, looking at me. I look over at Aella and she's looking at me too, her plate empty. I nod as Ward gives me other unimportant information and we end the call.

"Everything okay with Tikka?" Aella asks me. Evie's eyes looking from Aella to me, wide with worry.

"I'm not sure. Ward says they might be shutting down the sanctuary where Tikka stays." I tell her.

"Oh no.." she groans. She's thinking for a few seconds and then her eyes go wide.

"Babe..call Dorghu. He might know what's going on, and if he doesn't then he'll get some guys to go over there. Dorghu likes Tikka, he'll take care of her." Aella says. I nod and start looking for Dorghu's number when a strange scent wafts over my nose. I look at Aella and she's got beads of sweat on her forehead, and her breathing is heavier than normal.

"I'll get ahold of Dorghu, head on upstairs and relax a bit. It'll be alright baby." I tell her.

She nods and goes upstairs, Evie fluttering behind her.

I was the phone with Dorghu for a little over 30 minutes, pacing at first but then deciding to sit out on the porch. Dorghu was giving me some information about the sanctuary when Evie was suddenly floating in my face, darting back and forth.

"Nick!…Nick!….Nick!…It's Aella!…." Evie was shrieking, but it wasn't loud because of how small she was.

I stand and sprint into the house, dropping the phone. I charged up the stairs, using my nose as a guide, leading directly to Aella. She was sitting on the floor in the bathroom, next to the toilet. Both toilet seats were up, and the toilet was cycling back clean water from just being flushed. Aella's face had a gray-ish tint, and she was sweating more, her eyes glazed over. I had a flashback from when I found her sick the first time. I remembered the way I felt, finding her like this and not being able to do a damn thing to help. I pick her up bride-style and take her to the bed. Evie came fluttering into the room, out of breath.

"Goddammit I wanted this to work. They told me she would be fine..." I said, thinking out loud. I set Aella into the bed, and she smiled up at me.

"What nonsense are you talking about now?" Aella says, catching me off guard.

"I…the time I found you, sick..." I stammer. "Are…are you feeling okay?" I asked her as I pushed hair from her face.

"Yea I"m fine, I think I ate that food too fast. I feel fine, I just got nauseous from walking up those stairs after eating." She says, grinning at me with a sleepy smile.

I feel her forehead and she feels normal. "Alright then. Get some rest since you're already in bed and look sleepy."

She sits up on her elbows, looking towards the door. "Where's Evie?"

"I'm right here…just…out of breath" Evie says from the foot of the bed, her tiny labored voice. She came walking across the blankets on the bed towards Aella's hand. She flops herself into it sighing. Aella tucks her against her chest as she situates herself into bed. When they're comfortable, they start talking in very low voices. I lean down to kiss Aella's head before I leave the room. I head downstairs and back to the kitchen where I warm up the food I should have eaten an hour ago.

.

.

The next few days at the resort went well. We talked to Alais and she happily helped us through the process of adopting Evie. Dorghu had eventually called back saying he hadn't heard anything about the sanctuary being shut down, but as Aella called it he had a few of his guys go and stay there to make sure the rumors stay false. Surprisingly, everyone got along very well with Poppy. On the way back home Aella received a call from the Chief, congratulating her on her promotion to work with Kandomere on the Magic Task Force.

Currently, we were standing near the conveyor belt of incoming luggage at the airport. Aella explaining to Evie how the belts bring the suitcases to the baggage claim, not realizing that many of our 'normal' things are horrifying to teeny tiny beings, like fairies. (Imagine being a fairy getting caught in a conveyor belt?)

I grabbed Aella's bag from the belt and then I heard distant barking. Aella froze, and spun around to face the direction the of the barking. She leaned and looked around people, searching for the barking. I came over to Aella and she puts her index finger up, telling me to wait. Because I knew what was about to happen, I drop the bags and reach over and grab Evie from Aella's shoulder. Aella's eyes go wide as she sees Dorghu walking our direction, holding a wagging Poppy in his arms. I open my palm and let her float. She watches Aella with worried eyes. Aella starts quickly walking towards Dorghu, when they're feet from each other Dorghu sets Poppy down who runs directly to Aella, tackling her with puppy licks and nips.

I felt a very faint buzzing on my shoulder and I look over at Evie. Her hands covered her mouth in adoration as she watched Aella and Poppy. I remember hearing Aella's voice when we arrived at the suite: __I can feel her loving me!__

She comes back to us with a huge smile on her face, Poppy in her arms. Dorghu comes over to greet us.

"Whoa..what the fuck is that thing doing here?" Dorghu says, his eyes on my shoulder.

"Oh…this is Evie, we adopted her at the resort." I tell him.

"You didn't have enough shit with the first fairy, you gotta get another one?" Dorghu asks Aella.

Aella glares at him sarcastically. Dorghu picks up some of the bags and we head to his truck that's parked right outside the doors.

.

Back at Aella's house, we get everything from the truck to the house and Aella flops onto the couch, exhausted. Poppy sprints around the house, Evie is still sitting on my shoulder. Dorghu leaves soon after we arrive and I walk around to the couch where Aella was. She dozed off and was now softly snoring. I slide my arms under her and carry her to her bed, noticing her scent is stronger than it normally is. Poppy was standing on her two hind feet against the bed, wanting up. I put her on the bed, who comes over and flops down on her legs. Evie flutters over to Aella and kissed her cheek, although it was so tiny Aella wouldn't feel it.

"Come on, we'll let her rest." I tell Evie, who nods in agreement and comes fluttering back to my shoulder.

I walk from the bedroom to the kitchen for a drink when I get a call from Ward. Evie flutters from my shoulder and starts floating around the house, looking at everything. I keep an eye on her while talking to Ward.

He wants me to meet him at his house and go see Tikka. The rumor made him uncomfortable enough to want to go check on her and thought I'd like to go see her too. I agreed with him, and wrote a note for Aella for when she wakes up. I showed Evie all the basics around the house, turned on Netflix for her, filled a very small bowl with water and peeled an orange. She was elated with everything I was doing. She fluttered to me "hugged" my nose.

"Thank you for everything Nick" she said. I still wasn't used to how frail her voice was.

"Not a problem. If you need anything, don't be afraid to wake up Aella or uh….well, that's really all you can do for now. We'll work on getting the things you need to be able to get ahold of us if you need to." I tell her. She lands on the counter in the kitchen next to the peeled orange.

She nods and waves me off as I leave the house.

I happened to come back from vacation on our shift's off day, realizing then why Ward had urgency to go see Tikka. Just over an hour later, we arrive at the sanctuary where Tikka lived. I didn't see any orcs in orange when we walked in. The older elf woman at the desk knew exactly who we were and she didn't even turn around to look at us. She stayed watering the plants behind their purchase counter and said,

"I'll take you back to see Tikka in just a few seconds, these babies back here haven't been fed yet this morning…" causing Ward to look at me with an impatient face.

"Yes ma'am, take your time" I tell her, glaring at Ward.

After a few seconds she sets down her watering can and wipes her hand on a towel hanging from her apron. She smiles at us, "follow me." she says as she motions for us to come along.

As we're walking through the waist high plants towards the back where the potted trees blend into the natural trees, I ask her:

"Is it true that this place is getting shut down?"

"I don't know, I really hope not. I've been threatened my whole life, but this is the only one that worries me. I promised the guy that's seeing her now that I'd give them a few minutes…so I did. But I don't trust him so I'm not giving them very long before I run his ass out of here. He can take his threats and shove them up his ass" she says, stunning both Ward and I into silence.

She's got a serious face on so I explain it to her, hoping it will help.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, the orc that's watching over Tikka isn't gonna hurt her, he's looking ou-" but she didn't let me finish. She stopped and turned around immediately.

"What?…There isn't an orc with her. The orcs left because they didn't want to go to prison. That blue-haired snake of a federal agent is in there with her...and it's about time they're done." she said as she started walking again. I gently grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Did you say a blue haired fed is in there?" I ask her, Ward's wide eyes looking over at me.

She nods and we tell her to stay put here and we'll go. Tikka wasn't exactly hiding from the feds, but she wanted peace. It shouldn't have surprised me that he figured out where she was. Ward and I walk on, now in the natural trees and bushes. I recognize the familiar low hanging willow tree and we stop in front of it to gather ourselves before rushing into somewhere without knowing the situation. Ward was about to walk through the brush but I stop him. We listen for something that's caught my attention. On the other side of the willow vine curtain, is mostly the natural sounds of the pond, birds, and outdoor noises…but just breaking the sounds of that is the slight noise of someone's heavy breathing and occasional low groaning. Ward and I crouch down and move some vines out of the way to peek through without being seen.

At the water's edge is Kandomere, who's removed his shirt and is in the pond, his arms stretched out along the grass edge to keep him steady. His head was tilted back and was the source of the heavy breathing and occasional groans. Once I realized what was going on, I looked for Tikka. I couldn't see her anywhere. I didn't realize I had started growling until Ward put his hand on my shoulder, getting my attention.

"Look…" he said. "Whoever is blowing this dude is underwater. Can elves breathe underwater?"

I shake my head, gladly ridding my head of that disturbing image. I look back at Kandomere and wonder who's under the water.

"I bet it's one of those damn mermaids…" Ward whispers.

Suddenly a head of wet opal hair rises from the water, and her face turns to look in our direction. She smiles and does the "come here" symbol with her finger. I freeze, and Ward looks at me.

"Does she see us?" Ward whispers.

A fairy who was suddenly floating there silently whispered: "Yes. Varina sees and hears everything."

I look back at the mermaid, who's still smiling at us. Kandomere's head is still tilted back like he's asleep. The mermaid says something in a different language, motioning for us to come to her. The fairy, who was till floating near us says: "She said to go see her. There's something she wants to show you both."

Ward looks up at the fairy with confusion and disgust.

"Okay can you go away now? We didn't call you…" Ward whispers to the fairy, shooing him away.

"Ward, shut up and focus. Do you think we should go over there?" I whispered at him.

He nods. "Yea. I want to see the look on Kandomere's face when we catch him doing the dirty.."

I glare at him again, and shake my head at his nonsense.

"Let's go" I tell him, and we stand and walk through the willow vine curtain towards the pond.

Varina smiling at us the whole time. I look around, but don't see Tikka anywhere. When we reach the pond, Kandomere is awake but his eyes are glazed over like he's drifted off into a daydream.

Varina stays floating in front of him, but watches us silently.

She started talking, speaking a different language. Ward sighs and looks at me.

"I don't speak mermaid either…" he says.

"Yea me either..." I say, rubbing my face.

I look at Varina, who's pointing at something behind us. We turn and there's a few fairies sitting on the tree branches several feet behind us. I go over slowly and as soon as they saw me, they tried to fly away but Varina called out something sweetly to them in her mermaid language. Most of them still flew away but one of them stayed, breathing hard from being terrified. He was looking back and forth at me and Varina, nodding at her.

He fluttered over to her shoulder and sat down, and she whispered something to him. Ward was crouched down, looking at Kandomere.

"Hey, what's wrong with him? Did you drug him?" Ward asks Varina, his eyebrows raised. She giggles, and whispers something to the fairy.

"She said no, he isn't drugged." he said to us. Varina kept whispering to him, and he translated everything she said.

"She says the blue haired man came to see Tikka, and he was trying to take her with him but Tikka said no. So Varina… uh…she seduced him with her singing, and so he asked her to …." he was saying.

"OKAY" I said out loud, interrupting the fairy. I did not want to hear the rest of whatever they were doing. I look over at Ward who's looking at her with a confused but curious face.

"You can do that underwater?" he asks.

Varina smiles up at him and she dips back underwater, forcing the fairy to flutter away. After a few seconds Kandomere's moaning resumes. Ward is smiling and nodding, then looks at me. He sees my face of indifference and he loses his smile. I look for the fairy that was on Varina's shoulder but couldn't find him anywhere. I didn't want to stand here while Kandomere was getting special attention so I was about to turn around and go back when I heard Varina come back up. She started talking and pointed to a tree on the other side of the water. It was wide and was embedded into a small cottage that was wedged between two growing trees.

"Tikka." She said. Ward and I both looked at her in unison, and then looked at the little hidden cottage she pointed to. I start walking off towards the cottage when I realize Ward wasn't beside me. I look back and he's kneeling down face to face with Varina.

"Ward! Stop!…" I tell him as I run back over to him. He stands and looks at me confused.

"Man, what?! I was just talking to the mermaid…." he says.

"Ward you don't speak mermaid…and she has the ability to lure you into her spell. Stop looking at her and let's go get Tikka!" I said, turning back towards the cottage.

Ward's mouth slowly falls open and he looks back down at Varina with shock. She smiled and immediately went back underwater. Kandomere stayed where he was, laid about, completely in her trance.

"He wont remember anything, Ward." I tell him as he catches up to me.

When we get to the cottage, we knocked on the door frame. There wasn't a door, but instead there were a few tattered curtains hung up to cover the entrance. Tikka was hiding behind her bed, but when she saw it was us, ran out and jumped into Ward's arms. After a few seconds of hugging, she springs down and then comes to me, kissing my forehead.

"Are we going, now?" She says, looking at both of us.

Ward was looking at her confused, but I nodded at her and said, "Yes. Are you ready?"

She nods, but before as we done to leave, she stops us.

"Wait!" She whispers. "Is the blue hair man stil-.."

"Uh…" Ward interrupts her. "Kandomere is still out there but you don't need to worry about him. That mermaid friend of yours is uh..taking care of him for you. You're safe to leave with us." he says to her. Her eyes soften and she smiles, flashing her set of perfectly white sharp teeth.

On the way out, we pass Varina and she still has Kandomere under her spell. Her entire torso is out of the water, and her face is against Kandomere's face. His eyes are open but completely white. Ward stops and he's staring at them. Varina's eyes were a soft purple, as the light hit them when she looked up at Ward. Her wet pastel hair flowed from her head down her back, and down her chest covering her breasts.

"Ward…" I call him. I'm holding Tikka's hand and I stopped to bring Ward along and prevent him from falling into a spell that has the potential to ruin his life.

He looks back at me, and I signal 'lets-go'. He nods and walks, catching up to us.

.

"I gotta come back and visit her…" he says, as we get into my truck.

"Ward that's a terrible idea. She can do whatever she wants with you and you cannot object or stop her when you are under her spell." I try to explain to him.

"Mmmm. That doesn't sound too bad right now.." he mumbled, staring out the passenger window. Tikka sat in the back and wedged herself into a corner and buckled in.

As we drive back, Ward notices that we're headed towards his house.

"Whoa, why are we going to my place?" he says.

"Where else are we gonna take her? I don't have room at my place, and I was assuming you'd take her in since you were urgent in wanting to go get her…" I tell him. Ward sighs.

"Alright fine…" he says, defeated. "..but hey. Me and Sherri are going through…like a rough patch, or whatever…her and Sophia are staying with her mom for now…and I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything…" he says.

"Ward I'm not gonna say anything. I'm sorry you're having a rough time right now. You're always welcome to come hang out wi-" I try to tell him, but he cuts me off.

"Nahhh I'm fine, I just…I think she just wants a break from everything for a while." he explains, and now I'm second guessing this.

"Well are you sure it's a good idea to have Tikka there?" I ask him.

"Yea I have room for her. No one's gonna come looking for her at my house anyway." he settles.

.

We get Tikka settled in at Ward's place and by the time I'm leaving Ward's house, the sun has dipped behind the horizon, but not all the light was gone yet. Halfway through the drive to Aella's house I realize I hadn't looked at my phone for a while, and wanted to check on Aella. I pull my phone from my back pocket and see a missed call from Aella. I call her back…

"Sorry baby, I was busy getting Tikka settled in with Ward and-" I'm telling her but she interrupts me.

"Nick, hurry home please. When I woke up from my nap earlier there was a pool of blood between my legs. I don't know what's going on but I want you here, can you-" she says.

"I'm on my way right now, ill be there in less than 10, don't go anywhere." I tell her while speeding up and ending the call.

.

When I get home, I go straight to Aella's room, almost following the floating trail of honey. Poppy and Evie are on the bed, which has been stripped of its sheets. There's a movie on but both of them are looking at me. Poppy's tail was wagging and Evie floated over to me pointing to the bathroom.

"She's in there, Nick" Evie says in her tiny voice before I could ask where she was.

I walk into the bathroom and Aella's in the shower, filling the room with steam.

"Babe….are you okay?" I ask her.

She moves the curtain aside and looks out at me, her face worried. "Yea I'm fine. I think I just started my cycle early. It was just a lot more blood than I'm used to when I start." she explains.

"Well is there anything you need me to do?" I ask her as she goes back into the shower.

"No babe, I just want to lay in bed with you. And I'm starving." she says.

"Want me to order something?" I ask her, but I already knew the answer. I was about to suggest the usual Chinese take out but before I could say anything, she blurts out "babe I want a sandwich from Wexler's!…."

"oohhh I haven't had a sandwich from them in a while, that sounds good." I bounce, bringing up their menu on my phone. She turns the shower off and she pulls her towel in. She pushes the curtains to the side and steps out of the shower, immediately going to shut the door. She drops the towel from around her body and comes to me, bringing her arms around my neck. Her lips found mine and she leaned against me, her hand sliding down to rub my cock. She successfully distracted me, and I forgot I was ordering food. I slid my phone into my back pocket and pulled her against me. Her hands slid my shirt off and I brought my mouth to her neck. I pulled one of her legs up around me and pushed my cock against her. Her breathing started getting heavier, so I picked her up, turned her around and put her against the wall.

"Are you trying to start something? You just said you started…" I whisper.

"I don't care if you don't. I just know I really want you." she says, looking down to watch herself grind against me. I put my index finger against my lips, signaling her to stay quiet. She nods and I bring my mouth to hers.

I unbuttoned my pants and pull out my growing cock, sliding it against her wet folds. Her moans were quiet, but started to grow as my large head rubbed harder against her, wanting to push inside. I felt her hips shift angles and push down, forcing my cock to slide into her tight pussy, causing me to groan. My arms slid around her and I found my lips at her collar bone, leaving soft kisses to distract myself from how good being inside her feels. She lowered and adjusted herself, her breaths ragged from my cock completely filling her. Keeping my instinct urges under control was challenging, I wasn't used to not being in control.

Her hands are on my shoulders, balancing her so she can grind and rotate her hips. Her moans and breathing are deeper, and I start to feel a tug in my groin. I grip her ass and follow her grinds, a low growl growing in my chest. Her bouncing tits are in my face so I take one in my mouth, causing her to gasp. I pull her down onto my dick and I thrust up in tune with her rhythm, and her breath catches.

"I want it hard again…" she whispers while grinding on me. "I'm gonna come Nick…"

Without thinking about it, I grabbed her waist with both hands and lifted her up a bit, then roughly pulled her back down, over and over. Finally getting a glimpse of how I've craved to fuck her, my growl grew a little louder, but still wasn't covered over her climactic screams.

I feel her hot pussy gushing and pulsing on my cock…her body softens as I feel the tug from my groin getting stronger. Her arms tightened around my neck to hold herself up while I held her ass and kept pounding my cock into her. I look down to watch my shiny cock disappear in her pussy over and over, her shiny lips spread out, red and swollen.

"Ah fuck I'm gonna come…" I managed to get out between breaths. Her legs tightened around me and I feel her bite my neck while she's moaning.

I push my cock as deep as it'll go as I feel my explosion fills her, releasing a growl I didn't know I was holding. I set her butt on the counter by the sink, and gather myself. Her body is completely limp, her eyes relaxed. Her cheeks are flush and she has a gentle smile on her mouth.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, and she nods, her smile growing.

I grab her towel from the floor and slowly pull out of her, cleaning any mess we made.

She grabs a different towel and wraps it around herself. She opens the door to the bathroom and that's when I realize that we weren't alone. I had completely forgotten that Evie was right in the next room, and had just heard everything. Aella walks into her room, the steam from the bathroom escaping with her. She closes the curtains, and turns on the tv and her bedside lamp. Poppy is sleeping soundly near Aella's pillow. Evie isn't in the room.

"Where's Evie?" She asks me as I walk from the bathroom.

I shrug, "I'm not sure, she was here when I came in…" I say as Aella walks past me out of her room, looking for Evie. I'm not ready to face Evie yet, so I don't follow.

I hear Aella having a conversation followed by laughter so I assume she's found her. I take my pants off and realize I need a shower as well before I get into bed.

"Yea you do…" Aella says casually, walking back into the room and straight into her closet. I freeze and process what just happened. Aella hasn't said anything yet. I shrug it off and walk into the bathroom to start __my__ shower. Right before sliding my boxers off, I turn around to shut the door and Aella is standing there suddenly.

"Jesus!" I yell, startled. Her eyes are wide, and she's silent. "What's wrong babe.." I ask her.

"I….I just read your mind." she says, looking around, processing her realization. She looks at me. I'm nodding at her.

"Yea…I was wondering the same thing…." I tell her. "Did you pick up another power somewhere?"

She laughs, "I hope not…" and she walks back out.

Several hours later, we're laying in bed with Poppy and Evie. I'm the only one awake, listening intently to a late night talk show. I couldn't sleep so I had the volume low, even though Aella was a deep sleeper lately. Aella's foot jerked suddenly and gently knocked against my leg, catching attention away from the show. I notice her mumbling something, and she starts shivering. I slowly pull her against me and pull the comforter over her. She mumbles again, and starts whining. Her breaths are quick and her body starts twitching. Not wanting to wake her from a deep sleep, I hesitate on putting my hands on her to calm her from her dreams. Her body relaxes finally…but after a few seconds, I smell something sweet right as she starts crying. She's sobbing when I slide my arm under her and bring her to my chest.

"Aella.." I whisper..

She resists my arm and pulls back, gasping and sobbing louder. I let her go and get out of the bed.

"Baby…" I gently call her, trying to wake her. I reach over and pull the comforter from her and there's a pool of blood under her butt, the middle her pajama shorts are soaked in blood, as well as between her thighs. Stunned into silence, I instantly felt guilty. Her sobs woke her up, and she opened her eyes still crying. She sees me, and sits up looking at me confused. She follows my eyes and looks down. Her face goes pale when she notices the blood.

"Aella…are you o-" Aella's eyes rolled back and her body went limp, falling back onto the pillow.

"Fuck" I rush to her to get her out of the bed but Evie is suddenly floating directly in front of my face, between me and Aella.

"Nick, Wait! WAIT!" her little voice yells, her arms up. I step back, getting agitated.

"Evie I have to get her to the hospital, I think I accidentally hurt her..." I tell her. I was completely humiliated at confessing, but I needed the truth to be out there.

"I might have been a little too rough earlier bu-" I was trying to explain but she held her hands up.

"No need to explain, Nick. I understand, and I'm not judging either of you. I don't think it's you that's making her bleed. She smells different…" Evie said.

"What?…I haven't picked up any changes in her smell. But then…what's causing this?" I ask her.

Her face says she knows, but her face is also worried.

"I…I can't Nick. It isn't my place.." she says, slowly backing away from us.

"What?…Evie what the hell is going on?" I ask her, getting agitated again.

Her eyes are soft, but worried. "Nick, she's fine, just get her to the hospital." She says, before sitting back down on the corner of Aella's pillow.

I pick up Aella and wrap her in a clean blanket before taking her to my truck. I go lock everything up, almost having this routine down to a habit, except right before I shut the door, Evie comes and sits on my shoulder.

"I'd like to go, if that's alright…" She says, timidly.

"Yea that's fine, get to the truck…" I said through a sigh.

.

I carry Aella into the ER doors at the hospital and a few nurses recognize us and immediately run to me and look over Aella. I tell them what happened while they guide me into a little trauma room, where I set Aella on the bed. Evie floats above everyone to stay out of the way. A nurse holding a clipboard tilts her head, signaling me to follow her. I step around the corner with her.

"How's it going, officer Jakoby?" she asks with a maternal tone.

"I….we were uh…I-I didn't mean to hurt her…" I tell her, stammering, and not able to keep a straight thought. I couldn't focus on a single thing under the weight of the guilt and seeing her in pain. She nods her head and puts her hand up.

"Jakoby we all know you both very well here. We know you wouldn't __think__ of harming her. We're gonna get her looked at and get to the bottom of what's going on, okay? You don't need to worry about a thing, she's gonna be okay. I highly doubt you had anything to do with this." she says, her hand on my arm. She tilts her head back towards the waiting room. I sigh, and follow her.

"I hate this goddamn waiting room." I tell her, as we walk in together.

She nods, understanding. "I'll have coffee and breakfast brought to you. Shall I let the little one know where you are?" she asks. I had already forgotten about Evie.

"Yea…yea, have her come in here. And thank you for the breakfast." I nod at her. She smiles and exits.

I'm pacing around the waiting room for over 40 minutes, eyes stinging from stress and lack of sleep. I hear the door and look over to someone holding the door open for her while she flutters over to me.

"Nick!" I hear her little voice yell out, waving at me.

I turn and hold out my hand so she can rest. She lands and immediately lays down, completely spent.

"Thank you" she says graciously, panting.

"Of course. When you catch your breath, let me know what they said. I'm about to lose my mind…"

She nods, laying her head on her arms. Her little chest is beating so rapidly. I turn and cover her with my other hand.

"I have an idea. Relax, I'm gonna cover you while we go to my truck. I've got a few dried Crocosmia in my glove box." I say out loud, walking out of the waiting room. I hear a tiny audible swoon from in my hands, and it makes me chuckle. Halfway through the parking lot I peek in at her, and she's laying on her tummy with her limbs spread out so she doesn't roll around as much. She smiles at me and her wings flicker. She's still panting so I cover her again and keep walking to my truck. I get into the drivers seat and gently set her onto the middle arm rest. She sits and rubs the soft fabric. I reach into my glove compartment and pull out a small folded cloth. I gently unfold it and reveal three Crocosmia flowers, still full of pollen. I set it down next to her and she gasps. She quickly moves over to it and puts her hands in the dust. Her panting slows, almost immediately. She breathes deep and puts a few of her covered fingers in her mouth. She falls back onto the arm rest, and her eyes are closed. Shes smiling and writhing around, her hands between her legs. When she starts lightly moaning, I look around to see if anyone else was around, and I just keep my gaze elsewhere. I feel awkward just sitting here while she does her thing, and I don't really care to watch. I hear her little whines get higher pitched and ragged over her breathing, and it reminds me of Aella. I can't help but glace over at her, and i accidentally watched her come. Her body tensed up and trembled, when suddenly she started lightly glowing and then "pop" like a spark of electricity hit her, causing some of her tiny glowing scales to fall off her. Her breathing slows and she looks up at me, timidly. She bends her legs in front of her, and hides her face behind them.

"I'm so sorry Nick…I forgot you were there once I got my hands into the flowers…..I've never done that in front of anyone…." she says softly.

"Hey, I don't even know what happened. Don't be ashamed about anything, you aren't hurting anyone. Are you feeling better?…" I ask her. She peeks over her little knees at me and nods.

"Alright…do you think you can take a few of these petals and give them to Aella?" I ask her.

She immediately stands, nodding.

"Yes, absolutely! Let's go!" She goes to the Crocosmia but I stop her, covering the flowers with my hand.

"Wait. These stay in my truck. I'll give you a few petals and carry you back into Aella's room, or as close to it as I can get. Deal?" I explain.

She nods, "Let's do this!" she says, smiling. I pick off three small petals and put them next to Evie. I fold up the cloth and put them back into the glove compartment. I look back over at Evie, who's stacked the petals into one pile so she can pick them up. She climbs into my hand holding the petals against her body. I walk through the bright lobby, past the waiting room and nurse station, and Evie guides me the rest of the way to the room they moved Aella to. We walk in and the room is empty, except for a sleeping Aella. The room was dimly lit with one light over the monitors. I stand next to the bed and set Evie down on Aella's chest. She walks over and I gently part Aella's lips, so Evie can tuck the petals into her gums. She does so, flawlessly and easily. She plants a small kiss on her cheek and flutters back over to my shoulder. She sighs and sits down, grabbing a handful of my shirt to hang on. I lean over and kiss her forehead.

As we're leaving the room and walking down the hallway, the nurse from earlier rounds a corner and smiles when she sees me. As she gets near she says, "Sweetheart, do you mind if I speak with officer Jakoby alone, please?" she asks Evie.

"Of course! I'll head over by the waiting room Nick" she says, and flutters off.

"I don't think you'll remember me specifically from her last visit, but I was one of the main nurses working on Aella's case. I'm glad to see you guys again…" she says.

"Yea, hopefully next time, it's under better circumstances…" I tell her.

I didn't mean to be sarcastic, but I was exhausted and she sounded like she had news about Aella.

"Here, let's go back into Aella's room. I don't feel comfortable talking about this in the open." she says, walking past me. I turn and follow her, stuck on her saying she wasn't comfortable talking about it. We enter Aella's room quietly and as soon as the door shuts, I ask her.

"What do you mean you aren't comfortable talking about this in the open? What's going on now?" I ask.

She smiles looking at Aella, but her eyes were full of worry. She looks over at me smiling and says,

"Officer Jakoby, Aella is approximately 8 weeks pregnant."


	30. Chapter 30

****Chapter 30****

 ** **\\\ Hey readers! I've finally got some time to update and continue this story! :)****

 ** **Welcome and thank you to the new followers!****

 ** **I know last chapter was a helluva cliff hanger, but I'm back!****

 ** **Thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy ;) \\\****

"Okay…uhm…okay, so will she able to go home today?..." I ask her, her news not registering at all. She's looking at me, confused and silent for a few seconds.

"Uh, Nick….she's pregnant. With your child…." She said slowly. When she repeated it again, it registered. My feet went numb, and my mouth was suddenly dry.

"H-how….is that possible? We aren't the same spe-.…oh my god.." I say out loud. Humans are only able to procreate with other humans, and this gets my mind racing. My hands are on my head, the nurse moves to me with her hands up.

"Hey, sweetheart. Don't over think this, we are all here to help. One step at a time, okay? Let's not jump to any conclusions." She says in her soft nurse-y voice.

I look over at Aella, my hands still on my head. "She doesn't know yet, does she?" I ask, and she smiles again.

"No, honey she doesn't. We've got about another few hours before the rest of the lab results come back. I'll let you rest here and gather your thoughts." She starts backing up to leave the room.

"Wai-wait….don't leave yet. Uh…Is-..is there any way that y'all can see…who's….uh.." I pinch the bridge of my nose, frustrated between needing to know and being humiliated for asking. Suddenly she's in front of me again and she grabs my hand.

"Nick. There isn't anything you need to worry about, honey. All you should be focused on, is keeping her happy and comfortable. Aella is perfectly healthy, and from what we've seen so far it looks as if the fetus is healthy too. The results we're waiting for are blood work on her, and the DNA of the fetus. This will give us a prediction on how her body will handle carrying the child, in the event the fetus isn't 100% human." She says. This time, every single word she said registered.

"Did you say..in the event the fetus __isn't__ 100% human?…" I ask her.

She nods. "It is a strong possibility that the fetus won't be 100% human. Half of the fetus is the father's DNA. If that's you….." she trails off.

"If?.…I was under the impression that humans only mate with other humans for babies. How is it possible for her to get pregnant from me?" I ask, glancing at Aella. She winks at me, smiling.

"Aella isn't 100% human either, sweetheart. Here, you sit and rest and think things over. I'm going to bring you a bed kit and some coffee. And try not to worry yourself too much, she's a tough one." she says.

I nod, and sigh. "Yea..yea she is. Alright that's fair. I'll be here for a while, thank you." I tell her. She smiles and nods at me and leaves the room.

Easier said than done. I was still worried about Aella, but I had a small sting of betrayal in the back of my mind. I would never think that Aella would cheat on me, and I'm hoping that these test results show that she didn't. My mind is currently a blender of feelings and thoughts, and not one of them wanted to sit still so I could work through it to make sense of everything.

.

A few hours later, I'm pacing around. My head still full of thoughts, while my cup of coffee is empty. Aella is sleeping like she's in a coma. I hear the door click and the nurse from earlier quietly walks in, followed by a younger elf nurse. When the second nurse sees me, she jumps and gasps from fear. The first nurse turns around quickly, "He's alright. He's with Aella." she tells her before going to Aella and checking her vitals.

"Good morning Officer Jakoby." The first nurse says, looking at me. Despite the pressure I was now under, I didn't want to frighten this new nurse. I held my hand out to her to shake her hand.

"Good morning, I'm-" I start, but she stops me.

"I know who you are!" she says, her tone a little louder from her excitement. I hear Aella move, waking up. My attention shifts to her. She's looking around the room at all of us. There was only one light on, keeping the room dim. Her eyes squeezed shut and she put her hand on her head.

"Good morning miss Stone, how are you feeling?" the first nurse asks her, looking her over. I'm at her bedside, and she looks up at me.

"Wait, this is real? I thought I was dreaming…" She sighs, disappointment in her tone.

"It's real alright. We found out what all that bleeding was about." The nurse says.

"Um..Nurse…if uh, if we could do this in private, I'd like to talk to Aella about it." I tell her. I didn't know this other nurse and I didn't trust her to keep her mouth shut.

"Oh of course! I apologize…" she starts.

She turns to the nurse behind her, "…go ahead and head on to the other rooms and finish up the rounds, I'm gonna stay put for a minute."

The other nurse nods, and silently leaves the room still holding her clipboard. As soon as the door clicks shut, she turns to both of us. Aella sat up and she reached to hold my hand while the nurse started talking. I didn't want to hold her hand until I found out about the baby…but I didn't want to upset her so I held her hand anyway. She was about to get big news, and I'm the only one here with her. I can see her looking at me through my peripheral vision, but I don't look at her. I'm sure she can tell that I'm upset. She squeezes my hand, right as the nurse starts.

"Okay….so the first and most important thing you need to know, is that you're just fine. Second, you are pregnant. You're about eight weeks along…." I look at Aella when she tells her. Aella sits back, her eyes glazed over. She blinks hard and then looks back at the nurse.

"Wait, what?! How?…." Aella asks, and I'm looking at her, waiting on what she'll say.

"The doctor assigned to your case is reviewing your results before he brings them over. He's the same doctor that was assigned to your last case with us." She smiles and continues:

"From what we can see on the ultrasound, the growth of the fetus is a little bit faster than normal, and your uterus has some previous scar tissue that's getting irritated. You'll have some bleeding but nothing very serious. We have you on medication to help boost your healing process along. Your body shouldn't have any trouble adjusting to it, fairies have a ridiculous healing rate and you're perfectly healthy. Unfortunately you are too early along for us to see any telling features on the fetus, so we're waiting on that blood work to come down and it will tell us everything. And I don't want you guys to worry, me and Doctor Tassarion are the ones in charge of your case, no one else knows details…" She suddenly pulls out a phone-looking device from her scrubs pocket and pushes buttons on it. "Okay I've gotta run, the Doctor will be here shortly. If you need anything, just call me!" she says, as she gets up and rushes out of the room. I look down at Aella who's looking directly at me, her eyes big and watery with anger and worry.

As if on cue, the door clicks shut and she says "I can feel that you're upset about this….why?" I can hear her voice catch in her throat. She's fighting back tears, so I know she's pissed. She hates to cry.

"Aella. It isn't that I'm not happy about you being pregnant. It's just that I've only known humans to have babies with humans. And I'm not human….." I tell her, not looking at her. I count the ripples on the side of my boots to keep my focus from looking at her.

"Wait…you think I cheated on you?" She said, her tone lightening.

I didn't want to nod or look at her. Her saying it out loud had me seething and wanting to break the hospital bed she's laying in.

"Nick, calm down." she says exhaling, relieved. "I didn't cheat on you. I'd never do that. If I'm pregnant, it'll be yours." she says, wiping her face with her hands. I look over at her and she's got a small smile growing while she puts her hand on her tummy.

"You…didn't sleep with someone else?" I ask her. She shakes her head and looks up at me. Her eyes are shiny with excitement, and her smile grows even more. She covers her mouth with her hands to cover her full smile but before she can hide, I go to her and slide into the bed next to her before sliding my arms around her and pulling her against me. She hugged me back tight, snuggling her face into my neck. I sigh in relief, and start to realize what this means.

"Aella, of course I'm happy. I get to have a mini __you!__ " I said, smiling.

She grabbed my arm suddenly, and sat up looking at me.

"Don't. Tell. Anyone. Not yet. It's too early." She says, her face serious.

I'm nodding at her, "Okay. What's the …what do you mean it's too early?" I ask.

"With any pregnancy, it's always a good rule of thumb to keep the news to yourself until the second trimester, or around 13 weeks." She says, which raised more questions….

"Why is it a good idea to wait? Wouldn't they be able to tell anyway? Humans get huge when they're pregnant…" I asked.

She smiled for a second before it fell back to a serious face, "because the chances of miscarriage are higher before 13 weeks. Saves a lot of heartache I guess." She explained. I realize what she said, and noticed she wasn't looking at me when she said it.

"Do you think that'll happen?" I pull her tighter against me as I ask.

She gently shrugged. "I hope not." she said gently. She turns her face away but I had already saw the tears welling in her eyes.

"Baby, it'll be fine. If it's anything like you, it's definitely a fighter." I said, trying to ease her worries. She shakes her head, and sits up a little bit.

"I supposed it's gonna come out eventually, especially with us being at a hospital, so I might as well tell you now. Several years ago, way before I was a cop, I was with a guy for a while. Thought he was the one….whatever. After we broke up I found out I was pregnant. I wasn't going to hide it from him so I told him…and he wasn't happy about it. He told me I should get an abortion. When I told him to fuck off, he hung up on me. I thought it was done. A few days later he sent a few of his goons to do his dirt. They broke into my best friend's house, I was living with her for the moment. Someone tied her up in her bedroom while two of them beat the shit out of me." she said. She was silent for a few seconds as she gathered herself. "I lost that baby. That's what she meant about the scar tissue." she said. She sighed and wiped her face after a few seconds.

I held her face in my hands and turned it so she's looking at me.

"I don't think I need to explain to you, that you will be well taken care of with me. And-and.. I've heard so many stories from guys at the station having to run to the store at 1am because their pregnant wife was craving something…so I promise to do that too. And whatever else you need. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, Aella." She threw her arms around my neck, hugging me. I hugged her tight against me and felt the seething taste return to the back of my throat, and her face lifts to look at me.

"Hey. I've moved past it. Don't focus on that, focus on us." she said softly.

 _ _Us.__

I look down at her, and look at her eyes. Her eyes are softer than they usually are. I slide my hand between us and down onto her belly. She smiles and moves my hand down a bit, to her lower belly.

"Right there." she says.

"I don't feel anything. Aren't you supposed to be able to feel it?" I ask her.

She chuckles. "Yes, but that's later on when I get huge. Right now, it's as big as a raspberry. We won't feel anything for a few months." she explains to me, looking at me adoringly.

I lean down and kiss her bottom lip, and the door clicks. We look at the door and its a tall thin elf, who's probably the most beautiful man-elf I've ever seen. He looked as if he found the fountain of youth. He was perfectly polished and looked more like a magazine model wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope.

"Good morning Mrs. Stone, Officer Jakoby" he says, greeting us as he smoothly walks into the room and next to her bed. "I'm Doctor Tassarion, and-….Oh good, I'm assuming you know?" he asks, looking at us both.

Aella nods, "Yes. Do you have the results from the labs you ran?" she asks, not wasting time.

He nods, sighing. He glances at me, but mostly talks to Aella.

"The tests aren't conclusive yet. You're still too early in your pregnancy for us to get a definitive breakdown of what you're carrying. You're healthy enough to go home and relax, and I'll see you back in about two weeks and try again. These next couple of weeks, you'll have to take it easy, Stone. No wrestling perps down, no strenuous activity, no heavy lifting, and your stress levels need to be kept as low as possible." he says, not batting an eye.

"Okay, I'll be fine then. I'm not on the beat anymore, I'm working in Kandomere's office. I'm no longer chasing or fighting, so I can still go to work. All I do is-" She tried to explain, but he wasn't having it.

"No ma'am. I happen to be very good friends with Kandomere…and he's already caught up on the situation. He's going to get with you in a few days and come up with a plan for you both. With as sensitive as your situation is, we can't be too cautious. I'm still debating on having you do bed rest bu-"

"Absolutely NOT!" Aella said, cutting him off-her voice raised. She moved her legs to the side of the bed as if trying to get off…. "I'm __not__ doing bed rest. I'm a fucking cop, and I'll be fine. Just give me the Crocosmia I need, and I probably won't need to be on the medication this hospital is giving me." She said, looking at how to take the tubes and IV's from her arms. The doctor stops her from pulling the tubes from her body, catching her attention.

"Aella. This isn't about trying to restrain you. We've never seen something like this before, so we have to preserve you. We have to keep you as safe and comfortable as possible to avoid you miscarrying." he says softly, then continues: "and I'm sorry, I cant prescribe you with Crocosmia. The flower is illegal and I can't touch it. I know it heals fairies at remarkable speeds, but it's completely off limits." he finishes.

She leans back on the bed, defeated. Her eyes are on the ground, and then she looks back at me.

"I didn't know they were illegal." she whispers. The doctor didn't look happy to give her this news. After several seconds of silence, she sighs and says "Okay. What do I do next? Do I have to stay here?"

"No, what the nurse and I were discussing, is to have you go about your life, with the activity restrictions that I mentioned earlier. No heavy lifting, no strenuous activity. And I know Officer Jakoby will do his absolute best to make sure you are minimizing your stress. I'll have nurse Meara stop by every few days and take some blood and check on you. We want to monitor you as much as we can without disturbing your lifestyle, Aella….." he said, and she locked eyes with him.

For a few seconds, it was silent. Aella looked away and he blinked a few times, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Who is nurse Meara?" I ask him, getting his attention away from Aella.

"She's the main nurse that's with me on this case. I'll get your discharge and follow up papers drawn up and she'll bring them to you. Aella, it's always a pleasure to see you." he said politely, and quietly left the room. I watched Aella for a few minutes, and she turned to me and kissed me.

"Let's go." she said, getting out of bed starting to take all the tubes off.

"Aella, stop…let the nurses do that. We aren't clear to leave yet…" I tell her, but she doesn't listen. She winces as she pulls the needle from her arm and tosses it away, leaving a finger where the needle was. She looks around the room before asking "Where are my clothes?"

"They uh…might be washing them. They were covered in blood." I tell her, and she sighs.

"Where's Evie?" she asks, and I realize she's been in the waiting room this whole time, alone.

"I think she's in the waiting room, actually. Let me go check on her…" I tell her as I stand up from the bed and walk towards the door. As I open the door, she tells me to bring a wheelchair.

I get to the waiting room and look around for Evie. In this room, it's going to be almost impossible to see her because of her size.

"Evie!" I call out, looking around. There was a handful of people in there, some of them half asleep or completely ignoring me.

"Officer Jakoby…" I hear someone call me, and when I turn around, nurse Meara waves me over. I follow her down the hall, to an office.

"This is my office, and your first and last time to ever come here. When I found out you were staying overnight I went and brought your tiny fairy friend to my office so she could get some rest."

I walk into her office and see several pots of flowers on her desk. Evie emerges from the flowers and flutters over to me. I hold my hand out and she lands in it.

"How is Aella?" she asks before she lands or gives me time to think.

"She's good, but we'll talk about that in just a second. Let's get you back to the room, I'll have them bring you something to eat and drink." I tell her, cupping my hands around her while I walk back to Aella's room.

"Nick, you don't have to…she gave me water and a few pieces from her salad, I'll be alright for a while." We walk back into Aella's room and she's pacing around the room. She sees us and her face drops.

"Where's the wheelchair?" she says.

"Shit, I forgot to grab one. What did you need a wheelchair for? I found Evie in the nurse Meara's office." I tell her, but she shakes her head.

"Nick I want to go home. I can't just walk out of here, I have no clothes! Bring a wheelchair, and wheel me out of the hospital to your truck and let's go home." she says in her firm voice.

Evie's floating between us, confused.

"Aella we have to wait here for your discharge information and get your clothes…" I tell her, grabbing her hands.

"Nick. Please trust me. We have to leave. I'm not staying here." she says, and I smell the worry on her skin.

"What's wrong….why do you need to leave?" I ask her. She keeps looking at the door, and she moved closer to me, into my arms.

"I'll tell you when we get out of here. Fuck it, I'm going. I'm going to your truck with or without you." she says, fixing her gown and going to the mirror wiping her face.

"Goddammit Aella. Hang on, I'll go get a wheelchair and tell them you want fresh air." I tell her. I sigh and leave the room looking for a wheelchair, frustrated. I walk towards the waiting area and there's an empty wheelchair sitting just inside the door. I grab it, fold it up, and carry it back to Aella's room. No one paid any attention to me. I unfolded it when I got in her room, and she was already ready. She had a folded blanket with her, Evie sitting on her shoulder. She sat in the chair, and put the folded blanket on her lap. I pushed her from the room into the hallway, hoping nobody stopped us. Evie fluttered to my ear and suggested I give her the keys to my truck so she could have it started. I hang the remote with two fingers, and she hugs it and takes off. I push Aella down the hallway, around the corner, past the nurse's station, into the waiting room, and out into the parking lot. When we get to the truck, it's running and unlocked. I put Aella into the passenger seat and walk around to the driver's side.

On the way home she didn't say a word. I wanted to know what she knew, but I knew that when she was silent, it was because she's gathering her thoughts and planning. I leave her be until we get home.

.

As soon as she gets inside, she's greeted by Poppy and I cant decide which of them is happier to see the other. I go get drinks from the fridge while she walks to her room. I walk into her bedroom and she's pulling the sheets and blankets off the bed. I help her bring a stack of clean sheets from the closet and I tell her to sit and rest while I put the sheets on the bed. While I take the ball of dirty sheets to the washer, she gets in and adjusts herself under the covers. It's well past dinner and she hasn't eaten anything at all today, and neither had I.

"Are you hungry?" I ask her as I walk back into the room.

She's turning on her TV with the remote while answering me "Yea, now that you mention it. But I don't want anything heavy."

"Want me to have some sandwiches delivered?" I suggest. She nods, laying her head onto her pillow. I doubt she'll be awake by the time the food gets here. Evie is laying on the unused side of her pillow, and she's also curled up and dozing off. Poppy lays at the foot of the bed, looking up at me wagging her tail. She's grown a little bit and can now get on the bed on her own.

I sigh. "what am I gonna do with all of you…"


End file.
